


A Hand in the Dark

by Leopardtail



Category: Deadpool - All Media Types, Marvel, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha Wade Wilson, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Banter, Canon-Typical Violence, Courtship, Did i need to have three aus?, Domestic Violence, Gun Violence, Happy Ending, Harry is a dick, High school teachers AU, I don't know who hired this man, I would die before i wrote a minor in a relationship with an adult, Implied/Referenced Character Death, It isn't exactly refrenced in a positive light, Just Roll With It, M/M, Minor Character Death, No underaged peter, Omega Peter Parker, Past Abuse, Past Relationship(s), Possible smut later, School Shootings, Shooting, Some angst, Soul Markings, Violence, Wade is that one teacher where something is always on fire, all violent chapters are tagged in advance, i could not find a way for it to make sense without it, it isnt graphic though, its an off screen thing, lets just say that i like plot a bit to much and this will be exceeding that original number, medically necessary amputation, or exploding, this was originally going to be five chapters, yes i did
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2019-06-01 18:11:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15148913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leopardtail/pseuds/Leopardtail
Summary: In a world where soul marks tend to be subtle and easily hidden, Peter stands out like a sore thumb. With an unactivated, hand shaped soul mark on his face, it's unsurprising people would be a bit curious and concerned. That all falls to the wayside though when Peter is left facing down possibly being fired from his job as a high school teacher when he is unable to afford heat suppressants. With little else left to turn too, Peter seeks comfort from his friend and coworker, Wade. It is all downhill from there.(For more background on the world and some themes, please check the author's note on the first chapter. I supply some info that was too clunky and lengthy to include in the summary.)





	1. Beginnings Aren’t Always so New

**Author's Note:**

> Hi and welcome to a fic that will surely be a strange ride because I am bad at sticking to one idea completely as evident by the fact I have mixed three AUs for the sake of one story. This is also the first multi-chapter fic I’ve ever done and so in order to stay motivated to finish I’m gonna try and keep it within the realm of five chapters. If I do more than y’all can enjoy my suffering. 
> 
> Quick background for this fic:  
> -Soulmarks "light up" when soulmates touch and there is a mutual love. The thing is though is that souls are only paired based on soul compatibility and the love is unspecified. Plenty of soul pairs don’t work out sadly which means plenty of people don’t end up with their soulmate.  
> -Black marks (soul marks) are basically where soulmates will touch the first time the mutual love happens.  
> -Dating/courtship is normal despite having soulmates because of the mutual love aspect, so there have been cases of soulmates having been friends for over a decade before realizing they were paired by fate.  
> -Alpha pheromones are really bad for everybody other than Omegas (at least biologically, they can still be affected by the actions of those around them obviously). They are often used by Alphas gearing up to fight and during courting in order to keep other Alphas away. Either way, though it triggers an aggressive reaction from Betas and other Alphas that can cause other Alphas to start fighting in order to establish dominance so that they feel less threatened in their environment. This is why Peter has a freak-out moment in this chapter.  
> -Alpha, Omega, and Beta are all used for formal address, even in academic settings so you’ll see Peter referred to as Omega Parker here and there while I throw Alpha around like it’s going out of style.  
> -Heat and rut suppressants are legally required to be taken by teachers in order to prevent a teacher from having a get out of jail free card if something happens with a student. Most schools provide this in their medical plans but in smaller areas, this isn’t always possible as they are expensive. (They aren’t seen as a necessity).  
> -Harry is a dick in this kinda? Not gonna set that one in stone yet, gonna see where the river takes me.  
> -Wade and Peter are confused as fuck as to their relationship and it is highly evident lol
> 
> I apologize in advance as I literally haven’t seen a Marvel movie since the first Avengers and none of the ones I have seen have featured either of these characters (I’ll see Deadpool and Deadpool 2 one day). Also this is edited but is unbeta'd so sorry for that as well.

Peter Parker, the AP Biology teacher at Borah High and itty bitty Omega, glared his own reflection down in the mirror. The massive black handprint on his right cheek felt as though it burned staring back at him. Another school year, another year of pretending the jabs his students made at the mark didn’t phase him. Can’t let them know it hurts or he’ll be eaten alive by all the dickheaded young Alphas who think they can bend every Omega to their whim. He’d put on a brave face and walk out that door like it didn’t hurt that his soul mark looked like he’d been bitch slapped and that everyone on the fucking planet felt the need to point it out. Soulmates don’t always work out. It’s only the souls that match, not the temperament and so people just assumed Peter was a walking tragedy waiting to happen. Sometimes even despite the matching handprint on his hip he couldn’t help but fear that something could go horribly wrong when his soulmate realized he loved him, it could just end up being that he loved the pain he caused Peter and Peter was too stupid to not love the other. 

 

No. He can’t think like that. Not today. Not when he’d have to focus on everything else going on. Even with that thought though, the barely 5’4 Omega couldn’t help but place his own hand over the black splotch on his cheek. His tiny hand was surrounded by the mark, leaving the outline clear to see around it. Still, he tried to line his fingers up with where the mystery man’s would land one day. The thumb was tucked right under his bottom eye lid while the rest of the fingers curved lower and tucked slightly under his jaw. Some of the fingers extended onto (or in the case of the lower fingers, passed by) his right ear. On the other end, the palm rested partially on the edge of his nostril and extended from under the nose all the way down to his chin. Overall it took up almost half of his face. 

 

Without warning the alarm on Peter’s phone buzzed violently on the sink counter, causing the small man to nearly jump out of his skin. He turned it off before flying like a whirlwind through his home down to the streets. He practically jumped into his car as he made off for the school. When he arrived it was only 7:30 and school didn’t start for another hour after that but he was required to come down early in case anyone needed help before school started. He took the time to finish organizing his hand outs for the year. Usually he didn’t have to do this as he organized them as the units ended and salvaged whatever he could to recycle for next year but his TA from the year prior had been a lazy Alpha who just wanted a free period. Rather than simply put the papers where they belonged he threw them all into a pile that the frazzled Omega hadn’t noticed until it was too late. 

 

Mid sorting he heard a knock on the doorway and looked up to Alpha Wade Wilson waltz into the room with a grin and a twinkle in his eyes that could make even stars jealous. 

 

“Hey Spidey, whatcha doin’ there?” The Alpha came around the desk to peer over his shoulder but not quite crowding into his space, something Peter greatly appreciated.

 

Peter smiled shyly and lifted the stack, tapping them lightly on his desk to make the papers even with one another. “Still using the nicknames I see?” 

 

“Hey, can’t blame the kids for coming up with catchy nicknames.”

 

“You make one comment about the wonders of tarantula keeping and it becomes part of your whole identity.”

 

“It’s your brand! You should make up some elebarate story about being able to crawl up buildings. I’ll be your witness, don’t think it would be hard for the kids to believe I was taking an opportunity to check out that magnificent ass.”

 

Peter rolled his eyes. While Wade was kind enough to be very hands off (unlike Alpha Osborn upstairs, ugh) but he had no problems making comments about the “next door biology teacher’s killer ass”. Peter could do without them. 

 

“One of these days administration is gonna catch wind of the things that come out of your mouth and I’m not about to get dragged into an investigation.”

 

“If they get worked over a little rumor about a spider man they need to get their priorities in place.”

 

“I was talking about the ass comments.”

 

“Nah, my students are usually too scared shitless of me to repeat half the shit I say out of fear that I’ll come through their window ready to shove a katana up their Derrière for slandering my good name. The only other way they would hear about it is if they were in the room when I said it and I’m too smart to fall for that shit.”

 

“Hm, I have my doubts.” He teased lightly.

 

Wade staggered back dramatically with a hand over his heart and looked at Peter like he’d just whipped out a gun and shot him in a cold blooded murder attempt. “I have a degree in physics how dare you suggest I am not of the highest intellectual degree!” 

 

“Harry Osborn has a degree in theoretical physics and is the supposed heir to a Fortune 500 company and yet he’s upstairs using his English minor to make ends meet so I think I can safely say a degree does not equate to smarts there.”

 

Wade laughed, something that shook and came from deep in his chest. It made Peter nearly beam. Wade may be a handful but they were close. The year his aunt died Wade sat and helped Peter with his prep during 5th period and comforted the man through his grief. Wade even went out and got them lunch every Wednesday for three months because Peter had a horrible habit of not eating during that time. They’d spent so much time together crying, laughing, and gossiping that both their classes thought they were in a pre-mating courtship ritual. Wade was flighty but if nothing else, he was dependable. 

“Touche there baby boy.”

 

“Weren’t we just talking about your nickname problem?”

 

“You’re just jealous cause my nickname is cooler.”

 

“Deadpool is literally one of the stupidest names I’ve ever heard and I still can’t believe there are students who call you that. Are you paying them off?”

 

“Hey! It is not stupid.” The taller man pouts.

 

“You’re avoiding my question.”

 

“You’ve been avoiding mine for ten minutes.”

 

“I’m organizing papers because my TA last year was a lazy assh-”

 

“Language!”

 

“You were literally just commenting on my ass.”

 

“Mine is for loving emphasis, thank you.”

 

“You’re so inconsistent it hurts sometimes.”

 

“Aw, you know you love me.”

 

“You’d be a lot easier to love if you weren’t a bit of a pyromaniac.”

 

“It’s for science, baby.”

 

“Maybe, but most fires are contained and if I didn’t have to put out a fire every week cause you decided it was necessary to prove a point the fire alarm in that poor room wouldn’t be shot.” Peter said dismissively, intending it to be a joke. 

 

Wade went quiet and looked away. The air in the room took on a sullen and heavy nature in response, making the silence that followed the jab deeply uncomfortable. Wade was collapsing in on himself internally, something that was always deeply worrying when the other man fell into it. Peter turned to face him, feeling bad for bringing up the fire issue. Peter gently took his hands. “Hey, it’s not that bad. I shouldn’t have said that. I would honestly rather put out the fire rather than have you spiral into that hole again trying to get it under control.” Peter spoke softly and rubbed gentle circles into the scarred and burned skin on the taller’s hands, cupping the black, soulmarked palms in his own pale ones. 

 

A decade ago, long before the two met, Wade had been caught in a fire. He hadn’t been able to escape before the fire spread to his apartment floor. He wasn’t found until it was too late. The flames had consumed the room and everything in the room was on fire when the firemen had found him screaming and writhing on the floor. His body was so badly burned nobody thought he would make it through the night. He’d been covered head to toe in blisters that had popped and scarred every inch of skin on his body till he had more scar tissue than skin left. It left his students terrified of him until they got use to it (and even then it wasn’t great) while his love life and self worth were in shambles. It didn’t help that the guy was known for having a bit of a short fuse, something Peter never understood. Even after being friends with him for the past five years Wade still had yet to snap at him or in front of him but nevertheless it persisted. 

 

“Yeah, more like you wouldn’t want me to turn out any uglier than I already am. Would make me too horrible to look at for the school to keep me around without having to supply therapy for the kids who have the misfortune of seeing my mug everyday.” The Alpha said bitterly. 

 

“You know that’s not why I do it.” Peter squeezed his hands. “You know I do it because I don’t want anyone to get hurt. You also know that I do it because we both know you put yourself there to prove something to yourself that doesn’t need to be proven.”

 

“... Thanks Petey.” Wade looked their joined hands and a strange emotion flickers through his eyes. He goes to say something more when the door opens. The moment is broken and Wade springs away as they both swivel to see who decided to intrude on their mini heart to heart. 

 

None other than Alpha Harry Osborn himself appears in the doorway. Peter suppresses the urge to groan while Wade bristles like a cat about to throw down because someone got a little too close to its yowling fence post. Peter forced a polite smile. 

 

“Alpha Osborn, what brings you to my doorstep at this ungodly hour?” Peter was forcing himself to stay polite but the sarcasm came seeping out despite his efforts. Not like the other Alpha actually noticed. 

 

“I was coming to see if you wanted to have breakfast in my room but I suspect Wilson here may have already spoiled your appetite.” 

 

Wade bristled further and a low growl thrummed in his chest at the not-so-subtle insult. Peter reached under the desk and not so gently punched his friend in the leg to get him to shut up. This was absolutely NOT the time for there to be an alpha “my dick is bigger than yours” moment. 

 

And Wade completely ignored him. “At least I haven’t had three investigations for a suspected relationship with a student.”

 

The tension that had been almost physically tangible, snapped and Peter had to stop himself from throwing up at the sudden overwhelming musking and scent posturing that had taken over the room. The two men were as close to an at-each-other’s-throats moment without actually touching and Peter was sure anyone in the hallway could smell the absolutely stomach turning smell that was two Alphas getting ready to fight. In that moment Peter cursed every person under the sun that thought putting two unmated Alphas in a decently sized building literally only a floor away from each other was a good idea. Just as the growling began and the men started to flex their claws did the Omega step in.

 

“Both of you are going to get the fuck out of my room right now. Harry, if you so much as send a  _ look _ of disgust Wade’s way I will personally report you for instigating an Alpha fight on school property.” The smaller man pointed accusingly at the English teacher before flipping around to his room neighbor. “Wade, if you so much as think of pulling something after this little stint I won’t speak with you again until next year’s curriculum meeting. If you two don’t get your act together and  _ keep it together  _ I will personally send both of your asses into the stratosphere before anyone has a chance to ask what the hell is going on. ” 

 

Both men looked away, not out of shame for their actions but because they both knew they’d fucked up royally by pissing off this man. Even Wade was aware that as much as Peter cared about him and even the weird friendship he had with Harry that he would gut both of them if any danger came to his students because alpha pheromones where stinking up the place. It was the only place Harry and Wade found common ground, their respect towards Parker’s ability to put people in their place for the sake of others. 

 

Peter turned his back on them, obviously fuming. “Open a window on your way out. I’ve got to go grab the odor wipes and scent masker.” He marched to the back of the classroom to look through an old cabinet, leaving no room for excuses or argument. 

 

Both men obeyed and as Wade was about to shut the door he heard Peter call his name. He looked up, ready for another tongue lashing but was met instead with the eyes of a man who cared. Someone who loved with his entire heart even when the world was falling apart around him. It made Wade’s heart swell to be on the receiving end of that look. 

 

“You can still come in for lunch, just know I’m gonna make you clean test tubes with me.”

 

“Baby boy, I’d clean them out with my dick every hour of the day if it meant getting to be around you every day.”

 

Peter smiled and rolled his eyes but as the door clicked shut he sat there staring at the cylinder of wet wipes and wondering. Just what was his relationship with the strange Alpha next door?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and I hoped you enjoyed it! I'm rusty, to say the least, and I hope I at least somewhat make sense. I'm going to try and write the second chapter before next week is over but I'm in two college classes right now so this may be put on the back burner for a little while if need be. My personal rule for chapters is no less than 2000 words each so let's pray I can keep up with that. 
> 
> Please feel free to comment if you have any questions! I'll try to reply to all of them and explain what I can without giving away too much as to where the story is going.


	2. The Past Sure Does Bite Hard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating sooner! I've been working on this chapter on and off since I posted the first one but a lot came up very quickly. I ended up moving out of my room in my family house and into a one-room building in our backyard. It's really cool and I'm enjoying the privacy but it was almost a week of cleaning bit by bit before a marathon move over the course of three days. We painted, packed, and unpacked all within that time and I did the latter two on my own haha. I felt really bad about not getting this out sooner but in all honesty, I didn't know how to pad this chapter out? I wanted to build a little more towards the climax cause there is kinda two parts to it. I actually almost deleted this chapter but after stepping away and coming back to fix some issues that I originally had I think it turned out okay. 
> 
> Anyway! Please take note of some of the tags that have been added, I'll try and keep them updated as I go but I might forget to mention them in the author's note to make sure you give it a glance. For the most part, I'll try and warn you when it is a big deal, like today. TW: domestic abuse (it goes fast cause I didn't want to linger but heads up anyway).
> 
> World notes:  
> -Culpa Sickness is a grief response alphas have to the loss of pack members, it is 9 times out of 10 in response to violent death rather than just everyday death. Symptoms can vary widely but the main ones are extreme bouts of violence, irritability, high pheromone output related to alpha fighting and posturing, loss of memory, loss of mental clarity, comas, lack of restraint, loss of appetite, mood swings, and lack of self-preservation. Is less of a sickness and more of a disorder that can last a few months to entire lifetimes. It is very rare to come by thankfully but still terrifying and devastating for all those involved.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

The first two weeks of the new school year had passed without much to say in terms of events that were noteworthy other than one. Alpha Rogers in the History department accidentally hit a poor beta while turning around and the parents freaked out and accused the man of discriminating against their child for not being an Alpha. It was resolved quickly though and the child was simply moved to another class to avoid complaints from the parents. After talking to the gentle Alpha, Peter could safely say the man felt absolutely awful for the situation and blamed himself despite having many people within the class agree that the beta had been in the wrong spot at the wrong time and Rogers hadn’t meant too. The man had turned around to excitedly greet Beta Barton when he entered the room to say ‘hi’, only to get the kid in the face with a book he was holding as he opened his arms to welcome and hug the older beta. Peter was glad it hadn’t been him who’d done it but he felt pity for the man nonetheless. 

 

Wade, despite not having set anything on fire (yet), ended up with Peter in his room quite regularly and vise versa. Their bullshitting reached it’s peak around fifth period since it was both of their prep periods and followed directly after lunch, leaving them over an hour to get out of hand to some degree. This Wednesday was calm though, they sat at Peter’s desk with Wade sitting in a backwards, stumpy metal chair on the outside of the desk while Peter sat along the inside in his computer chair. It had lower back support to help his back pain from years of hunching through high school and college. He tried to offer it to Wade everytime he sat down in the room but the other always denied by making some comment about not wanting to break his back if it wasn’t through boning, etc, etc. He expected it to the point he could probably guess the exact way the alpha would word it that day just based on his mood. 

 

“Have you finally figured out that one girl’s name? The one who’s always wearing the long jean skirts?” Peter asked as he flipped through his lesson plan for tomorrow to make sure it would line up correctly. 

 

“No, she’s told me how to say it a thousand times but I’m just not catching it. It’s such a white mom ‘I want my child to be unique’ name too. You’d think I’d remember it.” Wade was stabbing his poor taco salad to bits as he talked animatedly, waving his hands around and jabbing his fork in every which direction he deemed necessary for emphasis.

 

“Honestly, I am kind of surprised. You sure you don’t want to do flashcard again like that one ye-”

 

“We do not speak of that, dear.”

 

Peter chuckled and tipped back in his chair, the ‘dear’ was only  _ slightly  _ passive-aggressive. “You remembered them though.”

 

“You’re wounding my pride, baby boy. How will I keep up my scary alpha vibes if you keep broadcasting my shortcomings?” Wade pouted, crossing his arms and leaning back to the point he was almost horizontal without the back of the chair stopping him. 

 

“Because we all have them and if someone doesn’t help you in some way it will just get worse.” Peter, ever the logical one.

 

The bigger of the pair rolled his eyes. “Jesus, just take a joke for once Spidey.”

 

“Hey! I can take a joke just fine!”

 

Wade laughed unnecessarily loud, going on for long enough for tears to peak from the corners of his eyes and Peter to thoroughly scowl and seeth in annoyance. “The way you’re looking at me implies the complete opposite, even a dumbass like me doesn’t need a degree in human behavior to see that much.” 

 

“You are insufferable at times.”

 

“You’re just too harsh of a critic is all.”

 

“Just stop while you’re ahead, Wade.”

 

“Damn, no nickname but instead the use of the blessed name my mother gave me to shame me? A low blow Parker, a low blow indeed.”

 

“You told me your mother named you after the best fuck buddy she ever had.”

 

“I have told you many things, lands on you to determine if it is actually accurate or not.”

 

“As I said, insufferable.”

 

As they lapsed back into silence Peter fidgeted in his seat uncomfortably, something that Wade caught on to pretty quickly since the other wasn’t exactly subtle.

 

“What is it?”

 

Peter looked at his hands then the ceiling then back down again. “I may have agreed to eat lunch with Alpha Osborn tomorrow and he may have asked that I not bring you. For obvious reasons, I thought you’d want to know so you didn’t go lookin-”

 

Wade nearly shot out of his chair but instead gripped the edge of the desk so hard the omega feared he may have to get a new one unless the alpha decided to take it out on their upstairs neighbor.

 

“Wade, calm down its ju-” Peter flinched as he heard the metal creaking as Wade tightened his fist around the curved metal edge. When something made a snapping sound directly after it seemed to set something off in Peter as well. He shot to his feet, nearly slamming his hands on the abused desk as he leaned into the alpha’s space. “You’re not even an alpha related to me so stop being such a baby Wade. I’m allowed to talk to other men without you harping on me like a big bad pack brother!” 

 

“He’s an asshole who doesn’t respect anybody but you cause he wants to get in your pants! At least I’m an asshole and honest about wanting to get a piece of the people I’m interested in!” Wade leaned in, accepting the unspoken challenge. 

 

“Cut the shit, you flirt with nearly everyone but the students. You’ve been trying to fight him since he was hired! I was friends with him before you know. ”

 

“Then why do you barely talk to him and refer to him so formally?” Wade stood up, tired of being in a submissive position lower than Parker. “Why don’t you accept his advances and go suck his dick like he seems to think a good little omega would do.”

 

“Because I already have and that’s what got me stuck here in the first place!” A cup of pencils went flying as Peter gestured wildly. He cursed to himself and got on his knees to pick them up, missing the shift in Wade’s aura. 

 

“What do you mean you already have?” His voice was a cross between a snarl and concern, something that made it jab at the omega’s heart more than had it just been anger. 

 

“We dated. A long time ago. It was in college, we had our ups and downs but I broke it off because some things… happened. He wasn’t stable enough for me to stay and so I left. He’s been trying to get back with me ever since and I… I feel bad Wade. I know I can’t love him and he wants me to so desperately and so I go see him every once in awhile but I have to keep him at arm's length or he’ll try and trap me in. I wish you could have known him before college. He was happy. He was kind and loyal. He had a brighter future than either of us could imagine and then shit hit the fan and so did he. Everything in his life fell apart and I’m the only thing left from then that isn’t broken beyond repair.” He pulled at his hair as he sat on the floor as though if he pulled hard enough it would drag an answer to his problem into his skull. 

 

“So you stay because you feel guilty.”

 

“I stay because I want to believe my friend is still in there somewhere.”

 

Wade got on the floor with him, gently coaxing fingers out of their death grip in his hair. He resisted the urge to make a joke about not ripping his hair out in front of the guy who lost all his but even he could tell it wasn’t the time. “If he hasn’t come back by now he isn’t going too.”

 

“I know.” His hands went limp and he didn’t comment as Wade cradled them in his palms. 

 

“Just let him go, Peter.”

 

“How? We work together and I have to see him regularly.”

 

“Stop interacting with him as though he was the person you once knew. Treat him like you would anyone else who was acting like him.”

 

“... You’re right.”

 

“Always am.”

 

“Don’t ruin the moment, Wade.”

____

_ Peter had just finished studying at the Saint Benjamin Library, trying to get in a few more quiet hours of study before he had to listen to the neighbor’s upstairs try and dance the roof into collapsing. The walk home was uneventful and boring but as an omega, it still left him tense due to the darkness and lack of protection around. Once he was through the door though he visibly relaxed. Setting his bag down by the door he made his way to the kitchen. Oblivious to what he was about to walk into.   _

 

_ “Harry, I’m home. You wouldn’t fucking believe what my biology professor sai-. Harry? Are you okay?” Peter rounded the corner to find his best friend and boyfriend of two years slumped over the kitchen table with his head in his hands. The Omega edged closer carefully and scented the air, nearly throwing up at the smell of overwhelming pissed-off-alpha pheromones. Alarm bells were blaring on full blast in his head, his flight or fight kicking in. Every nerve was on fire, ready to spring him backwards and out of the room if need be.  _

 

_ Peter is stopped dead in his tracks when the alpha looks at him, grief and rage having taken over every aspect of his demeanor. A phone dangled from his hand as he stood to face Peter. They sized each other up for a moment before Harry walks out of the room and down the hallway, out of site. The tension in the air doesn’t fade even with the lack of the alpha’s physical presence and it makes it hard for Peter to think completely straight with the scent of sulfur and burning plastic that made up Harry’s ‘don’t fuck with me’ smell. Trying to shake off the weird moment that just took place and clear his head, the brunette goes to the cupboard to grab a glass but it slips from his shaky hands shattering on the floor. With a frustrated sigh, he goes to grab the vacuum from the hall closet. He had only taken a step away from it when the sound of thundering down the hall set his spine straight. Ready to flee he pivots on his heels, but just as he turns he is slammed into the ground and the remaining force sends him and the near force of nature tumbling into a cabinet.  _

 

_ Winded, he gasped for air, trying to fill his struggling lungs with enough air to stop their screaming. The body on top of his growls and presses him into the space between it and the cupboards. Peter wheezes and tries to fight against the crushing pressure but his arms and legs were pressed back into painful positions that punished him for moving. The glass from the broken cup digging into his back making it hard to focus as Harry began bubbling nonsense.  _

 

_ “Couldn’t just be quiet? Why do you have to come home and break shit, Peter? Why can’t you just keep your act together? Couldn’t you have just kept it down for your obviously upset partner?” Harry pressed him further into the fake wood against Peter’s back, causing it to crack a little under the pressure. His ramblings barely made sense to Peter in his now (quite literally) dumbstruck state. _

 

_ “Harry! Stop, you’re hurting me!” Peter tried to kick the other man but was instead gifted with a bolt of pain shooting up through it and barely any movement to show for it.  _

 

_ “Shut UP.” He pressed Peter’s arm into the ground until he felt the joint grind backward. Peter screamed. “Why can’t you just be quiet? Why do you always have to make everything harder?” Tears fell onto Peter’s cheeks but were not his own. The splatter of water shocked Harry enough that he let up, just enough that Peter was able to slide his leg out from under him and land a kick square on his breastbone, sending Harry tumbling backward and giving the smaller an opening to escape.  _

 

_ Peter flew down the hallway and out the front door without looking back even as he heard Harry shouting. He didn’t stop running till he was at his Aunt May’s house, nearly an hour away from his apartment when walking. Upon seeing her panicked nephew along with numerous bruises and pieces of glass embedded in his skin, May called the police. Harry was arrested that night and spent the night in jail. Peter was told afterward that the alpha was experiencing Culpa Sickness and had fallen into a two-day coma, he remembered nothing of what had happened in the kitchen when he woke up. It took Peter three days to find out what had triggered the disorder.  _

 

_ Norman Osborn, millionaire and owner of Oscorp, had murdered his soulmate. _

_ ___ _

Peter sat at his desk and pretended he wasn’t reliving that awful night in his head as Wyona Piccolo presented a powerpoint on brown fat cells. After everything that horrible night, Peter left. He didn’t press charges, knowing he’d surely lose, it wasn’t worth wasting the money. Instead, he avoided the other man like the plague for years. He’d found out a few years later that the sickness had been off and on afterward, not leaving completely until five years ago. A change in Harry had stuck with him though. Peter didn’t want to remember the man he’d once thought could be his twin flame. It hurt too much to remember what was before and it wasn’t worth it either. The Harry before wouldn’t be coming back. He was gone. Harry had begun to follow him though, even after he’d been told to fuck off. It had been going on long enough Peter had just given up on fighting it. It was nearly impossible to get a restraining order on an unmated alpha as an unmated omega because courting was still seen as a traditionally violent time in both parties lives and omegas were viewed as just being “too sensitive about it”. Harry had mellowed out enough to be safe around but he always put Peter just a bit on edge. Having Harry around always lent itself to a taut thread of tension between them. It made it hard to work anywhere near him and was the reason he hadn’t taken the teaching position for the photography class sitting at the edge of the English hallway like he’d always hoped he could when he’d gotten his minor and teaching endorsement in it. 

 

As he sat there he wondered why he had even thought to tell Wade that Harry was somehow still his friend. Their “friendship” was civil at best on Peter’s end. Maybe it was anger towards being treated like a child? Like he shouldn’t be in charge of his own decisions even if they were poor ones? His analysis of that would have to wait. Wyona was finishing up her presentation and Peter tried not to visibly wilt as he scorned himself for not paying attention. He had no idea how she did and would have to base it off her slides. This was going to throw off her grade for sure and it wasn’t even her fault. Outwardly he smiled and thanked her before she returned to her seat and the next student came up to get ready. He glanced back down at the rubric he’d been writing on before he had gotten caught up in his own head. After a few slow seconds, he wrote a 90 out of 100, hoping that the strength of her presentation at the start had carried all the way through while still leaving room for any possible mess ups she may have had that he’d missed. He felt bad for not paying better attention but it would be worse if he asked her to do it again as it would throw her off her game for sure and it wasn’t fair to put her through that stress. Nodding for the next student to start he tried not to let his thoughts wander for the rest of the period. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this was satisfying given the wait! I'm thinking about looking for a beta reader to help me edit/bounce ideas off of. Normally I would ask a friend but none of them really share an interest in this ship and I'm a little embarrassed to let any of them know I've written this. I have a few friends I may trust enough to ask but if it gets back to some of my other friends I wouldn't hear the end of it till I die. Idk, I'll figure something out! See y'all soon with a new chapter!


	3. The Conversation No One Wants to Have

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh baby, this work is gonna be a lot more than five chapters at this rate. 
> 
> So this chapter has been written and sitting in my docs for like three days because I still needed to edit it and a bunch of stuff came up really suddenly. I finally got around to it though yay! Anyway, thanks for all your comments, they mean the world to me! I love reading them and it helps keep me motivated when writing these chapters. I especially love peoples guesses to how the soul mark gets activated cause... a lot of you guys are close but I think it is gonna left field y'all. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter! The next one might be a little longer since the main plot is gonna start rearing its head.

Standing outside the door to Harry’s room was possibly one of thee most terrifying things Peter had experienced in a long time. He’d walked by it just last week yet here and now it was so much more intimidating. It meant facing his past. It meant finally looking at Harry and seeing him for that night and everything after instead of the man he’d been before. Peter was already sucking back tears as he remembered their high school years when they were nothing more than friends. How many times had Peter bandaged bloody knuckles from Harry’s fights with the Alphas who insulted Peter? How many times had Harry and him plowed through the night studying, textbooks in one hand and some energy drink that would shave four years off their lives in the other? How many times had they cried in each other's arms? It made it even harder as Peter reached for the door, but as he grasped it a thought flashed through his mind. 

 

How many times had he refused to have sex with Harry during his heat because he didn’t trust the Alpha not to bond with him against his will but just said it was because he was more comfortable at the Heat Clinic? How many times did Peter have to stay home because Harry was threatening to fight another Alpha just because Peter was around? Just how many times did Harry get away with things because Peter didn’t register it but knew it deep down?

 

Peter tightened his grip on the door handle. There had always been a problem, hadn’t there? It made Peter want to kick the door in and scream. He felt stupid and betrayed. It was hard to know what to feel when all his thoughts and memories felt jumbled but those two emotions felt crystal clear. What if the Culpa Sickness just finally brought out what had always been there, boiling beneath the surface? It sounded like a theory Wade would come up with, making the brunette wonder if the Alpha had been hinting yesterday that he actually did have a degree in some sort of human behavior. That would need to be unpacked later when this mind cluster fuck was over. Peter was about to just flake and run away so he didn’t have to deal with this when the doorknob was yanked out of his hand. Harry stood there looking down on him with a smile that looked kind on the surface but felt loaded and heavy when Peter looked at it. 

 

“I’m so sorry to yank the door out of your hand like that. I was just going to leave it open so you wouldn’t have to worry about just barging in. Come on in.” Harry stepped out of the way and gestured into the room in a way that resembled a murderer toying with a house guest before the murder dinner party began. 

 

“Oh, um, it’s fine.” Peter scuttled in and was beginning to regret not bringing his own lunch. Harry had insisted that he make something for Peter, an action that registered in the back of his mind as something edging a bit too much into courting territory (who was he kidding, that was probably exactly what it was). 

 

“Take a seat wherever you want. I’ll adjust.”

 

“Thanks.” Usually, he’d insist on not making a fuss and moving the other out of his comfort zone but he felt safer being able to plan an escape route and strategize in the unfamiliar room. He ended up picking a seat two rows away from the door at the very front. He wanted the access to the door while not appearing as though he was planning to bolt. The seat was located just close enough to the center of the room to appear as though he was comfortable in the space while still allowing enough of an available strategic margin to account for multiple scenarios.

Harry pulled up a chair that was exactly like the one Wade had been using yesterday and flipped it the exact same way. A parallel that he didn’t miss and forced him to examine how much of Harry’s actions and mannerisms were off-putting only when Harry did them. It made him want to be back with Wade at that moment. The other Alpha was so much safer to be around, even if sometimes there was an undercurrent of violence in him. Peter never felt like he was walking a dangerous line with Wade. He was honestly certain in the fact that Wade would cut his own dick off before hurting an innocent person. Maybe it was him being naive but he felt that Wade was worthy of a trust he hadn’t given to anyone in a long time. 

 

“What would you like to eat, Peter? I have tuna sandwiches and a caesar salad if you’d like. I also have some things in my fridge if you’d rather have something else.” Harry walks away from the chair he had just set up for himself and went to the strangely large mini fridge he had behind his desk. 

 

“The salad is fine,” Peter says as he near violently fiddles with a loose plastic disk that was covering a bolt under the desk. 

 

Harry nods and pretends to not hear the nervous jangling of Peter fucking with a loose piece of a desk. He grabs himself a tuna sandwich and hands Peter the salad once he was within range. 

 

Peter tried not to show his disdain at the salad not having been store bought but homemade, another check mark towards the courting behavior possibility while also setting the Omega on edge as he debates if Harry would put anything in it that would be intentionally harmful. After popping open the lid and accepting a fork from Harry he tries to strike up conversation. 

 

“So, you seemed like you had something to tell me when you asked me to come have lunch with you.”

 

Harry chuckled. “Well, getting right to the point I see.”

 

He shrugged as he drenched the poor leafy greens in an unholy amount of ranch before popping a fork full into his mouth. “I don’t like fluff conversations, what can I say?” That was a complete lie since most of his conversations with Wade were just the two of them saying random bullshit because Wade hated silence when they were together and would keep going no matter what. 

 

“Just seems very out of character of you from what I remember.”

 

“Times change and so do the people in them. If you stagnate you might as well completely flip the script and try again rather than staying there.”

 

“You have a less than practical way of approaching such a thing it seems.”

 

“It worked, didn’t it? Still have my shit together unlike some.”

 

“I beg to differ.”

 

“Really. How so Alpha Osborn?” Peter held back a smirk as he watched Harry’s lips flat line in annoyance. Formal titles, the best way to insult a courting Alpha without a challenge. 

 

“Most Omegas are actually mated at your age so it seems as though you’re quite a bit behind.”

 

Peter quite literally bit his tongue to keep himself from losing his shit on the Alpha but he promised Wade this morning he wouldn’t let himself be walked over. Time to let shit fly, in the most passive-aggressive way possible. “Ah, seems you’re even more behind then. Aren’t most Alphas mated by twenty-two? Last I checked you just turned twenty-eight and I’m only twenty-six.” 

 

“Unlike you I’m just waiting for a stubborn Omega to come around.”

 

Peter froze with the fork halfway to his face. His eyes scanned the other man’s face, knowing damn well what that meant but still hoping to find something suggesting otherwise. “What makes you think that Omega is even interested in you?”

 

Harry locked him in a gaze that made everything in Peter scream to run but he was glued to the spot by it. “Because I know that no matter whether fate agrees or disagrees, he is mine. Fate doesn’t know what she is doing half the time and I think that the only reason he hasn’t come to me is that he puts to much stock in her.”

 

Every hair on his body was standing on end and he was braced to bolt. “Maybe it isn’t just Fate that he believes in, maybe he just knows you aren’t who he should spend his life with if he wants to be happy.”

 

“I’m the only one who has the means to. I would even take on all the blood money and the company left to me by my father if it meant supporting him in a way that makes him happy.” Harry leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk, hiding his mouth behind folded hands and watching Peter like a hawk.

 

“You… you never took over the company?” Peter sat back in the chair, both out of shock and an attempt to create distance. 

 

“I let a senior board member run it. I want nothing to do with my father after what he did.”

 

“But you still own it rather than sell it?” 

 

Harry clasps his hands together, still hiding part of his face but now creating an almost mock fist. Peter resists flinching in an attempt to retain ground. “I keep it as a last resort. We’re getting off topic here.”

 

Peter forced down the bite he’d just taken. “Money won’t make him happy and— and he obviously doesn’t love you if he hasn’t gotten with you in all this time.”

 

Harry stands up abruptly Peter shoots to the back of the room. Harry seems unphased but a dark light settles in his eyes. “You’ll see Peter. Love works in many different ways.” 

 

“I’m sorry but I have to go.” Peter inches towards the door and Harry eats up space as he advances. Scared shitless in the face of a 5’11 Alpha coming straight for him after everything that had happened, Peter ran. He heard Harry call after him and the click of shoes behind him. As soon as he got down the stairs he flew into Wade’s room and pressed himself against the door. 

 

Wade looked up from where he was preparing a rig he’d created to show how resistance worked upon falling objects and upon seeing the scared shitless Omega he straightened. 

 

“Wade, Wade, lock the door, please, please, he’s comi-” There was a knock on the door and Peter jumped, bolting and crouching behind the island cart Wade had at the front of the room opposite the door.

 

Wade didn’t speak as he went and opened the door. Peter flinched when he heard Harry’s voice. 

 

“Sorry to bother you Alpha Wilson, but may I speak with Peter?”

 

“No. Go fuck yourself, prick.”

 

He heard Harry begin to protest but Wade slammed the door in his face, something he was actually able to do since the slow closing mechanism had broken last year. 

 

“... Peter, are you okay? Physically?”

 

“Y-yeah. Just really shaken.”

 

“... What did he do to you?”

 

“We only talk-.”

 

“No, what did he do to you in college.” It was a statement framed like a question.

 

“He-” Wade came around the island and sat on the floor with him. Reaching up onto the top of the cart he handed Peter a stress ball shaped like a drop of blood that he had gotten last year during the blood drive. Peter smiled fondly at it and realized tears were peeking from the corner of his eyes. He laughed softly and wiped them on his sleeve. “Sorry, I’m a mess, aren’t I?”

 

“You’ve obviously been through something traumatic and it’s understandable you’d feel like shit.”

 

“How do you know it was traumatic and not be being overdramatic?”

 

“You’re not the type to come running into my room like the devil himself is trying to skin you then beg to keep someone away from you for no reason. Plus I don’t trust Osborn for shit and based on what you said yesterday I shouldn’t.”

 

“I didn’t even say enough for you to make a call just based on my words.”

 

“Am I wrong?”

 

“No…”

 

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

 

Peter looked down. He crushed the stress ball in his hand and watched as it expanded back out into its original shape. “Yes and no?”

 

“Hard topic?”

 

“Very.”

 

“You don’t have to tell me if it’s going to be too much.”

 

“No, no, I want to tell you just… How do I even begin?”

 

“At the start?”

 

“How about sophomore year of college?”

 

“Works for me.”

____

 

Wade was silent nearly the entire time he explained what had happened between Harry and him that night and some of what came before and after. It felt good to finally tell someone, he’d only told Aunt May the night it happened and the police. Beyond that, no one knew but even then, May was gone which meant Wade was the only person alive who knew the full story on a personal level. Which is what helped in making it so terrifying when Wade didn’t even speak once he was finished. Instead he got up and went into the back room, leaving Peter sitting there in shock. He’d been ready for Wade to lose his shit and this threw him off completely, until Wade emerged with a hammer. 

 

“He dies tonight.”

 

“Oh my fucking god Wade, don’t you dare.”

 

“I’ll kill him right now, don’t you test me.”

 

“You’ll go to jail.”

 

“Not if they can’t catch me.”

 

“Who will harass me during my lunch break then?”

 

“You underestimate my ability to sneak in through windows.”

 

“I swear to god if you pull another stunt like Memorial Weekend-.”

 

“Okay, that was not my fault.”

 

“You broke a case of hydra samples!”

 

“I plead the fifth.”

 

“You aren’t using that saying right. I literally watched you do it.”

 

“That just makes you a willing party to the cover-up. You were the one who told Banner it fell.”

 

“Fuck you.”

 

“Gladly.”

 

It took Peter twenty minutes to talk Wade out of going upstairs  and braining the upstairs English teacher and even then Peter wasn’t 100% sure it wasn’t going to happen. At least he’d managed to hide the hammer in the back room, but Wade would get creative if he really wanted to do it. Peter tried to just forget about it as his prep period rolled around. They’d separated and gone to their own rooms for their respective prep because Peter had to prepare lab supplies and Wade still needed to finish his set up. Since Harry teaches during fifth period it was pretty safe to go back to his room without worrying about the Alpha coming down and trying to “talk” again. 

 

Just as he finished setting out supplies and was about to plug in the microscopes he heard someone enter the room. Peter nearly jumped out of his skin when the door slammed shut and whipped around expecting Harry to be there. Instead, Principal Fury was standing there in his foreboding and unnecessarily cinematic black outfit and matching eye patch. 

 

“Sorry to bother you Omega Parker, but we need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some quick end notes! 
> 
> -Peter was able to avoid having heat sex with Harry due to a Heat Clinic dealio that will be discussed later. Basic idea though is that it is a facility that Omegas go to in order to ride out heats in a safe environment and is most often used by young Omegas and those with very strange or intense heats. The reason Peter didn't question why he went until this chapter and just did it for comfort is because he's been going since he was super young. Again, this will be touched more on later. 
> 
> -Fury is referred to as Principal Fury instead of Alpha Fury cause it's seen as a title above Alpha. 
> 
> Please feel free to comment and let me know what you think!


	4. How About a History Lesson?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote 3000 words and edited this while half asleep so I apologize in advance. Here is nearly 5000 words for y'all to enjoy as an apology for not updating sooner. I just finished a five-week class that is normally 16 and locked myself in a room to power read and complete my English project so I'm fried as fuck right now. I'm also not sleeping right and have to go into a sleep specialist and have to get a job so I'm very tired at the moment haha. Anyway, I hope this is enjoyable. I was trying to set up the next chapter cause that boy is gonna be a real rollercoaster for y'all if it comes out how I want it to lol. All the points should be right in this tho so don't worry about informational gaps.

Peter tried not to bathe the room in any distressed Omega pheromones but god fucking damn if he wasn’t shitting himself waiting for Fury to tell him why he’d come to talk. The Alpha was leaning against a table while Peter sat on another across from him. This fake casual aura permeated the room that made Peter want to throw up and tell Fury to just cut the shit and get on with it but he was too polite to and kept his mouth shut. The Alpha was looking at him like he didn’t quite know where to begin. He eventually let out a deep, burdened sigh.

 

“Peter, I’m gonna be straight with you. Some shit has hit the fan and someone in district fucked up some budgeting and paperwork. You were taken off the list for heat suppressants and since you’re the only Omega on staff who is unmated they won’t let you back on, said it’ll cost too much money to fix. I did my best to pull some strings but there is nothing I can do.”

 

Peter paled and initiated a death grip on the edge of the table. “Am… am I being fired?”

 

Fury rubbed a hand down his face before pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes, shaking his head. “No, no. I was thankfully able to pull  _ that  _ string since it wasn’t your fuck up. I can only keep you on till your heat suppressant runs out but you should still have six months and I can work it so you’re on the rest of the-”

 

Peter interrupted, feeling bad for doing it but he felt it was better to stop and save Fury the trouble of an explanation. “I actually- I actually don’t. My body processes them too fast. I only last three months before I have to go in for another shot.”

 

“Oh… Well, don’t you go to the heat clinic? I can milk their fuck up for all it’s worth and vouch for you to get some sort of paid time off for you to ride out your heat there?”

 

“I really appreciate you trying to work with me but I’m a bit shell-shocked here.”

 

“Sorry, should have thought of that. I’ve had a few days to mull this whole thing over and try and get to you with a solution. Didn’t want to walk in with a big ‘fuck you, figure it out yourself’, as easy as that would have been.”

 

“Thank you… So, heat clinic? I could try but I’m going to have to get my heat induced if you want it scheduled and I don’t know if they provide that service for free.”

 

“Insurance will cover it. Had someone three years ago who needed to be induced before an overnight trip just in case and it was covered.”

 

“Okay, um, I was supposed to go in for my shot for the first quarter Saturday. I’ll have to cancel the appointment and I’ll probably hit my heat sometime two weeks from now once it’s out of my system.”

 

“We can talk about it next week then. I’ll get back to you on all this by the weekend and get a solid plan formed. You should probably plan for a sub.” Fury straightened and put a hand on the shorter man’s shoulder. “I’m sorry Peter. We’ll figure this out. I’m not about to let one of the only people keeping this department afloat go under cause some dumb shit couldn’t properly file paperwork.”

 

Peter tried to smile but it came out forced. “I understand. Don’t worry. I’ll be okay.”

 

If Fury noticed the fake smile, he didn’t comment. Just gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder and left without another word, deciding the conversation needed nothing else. 

 

Peter practically collapsed on the floor as soon as the door clicked shut. A laugh bubbled out from his chest, it felt like he was rotting from the inside out. In less than twenty minutes Principal Fury had turned his whole world upside down and Peter couldn’t even blame him. There was just some faceless person sitting at a desk probably not even aware of their utter fuck up and yet their actions had just royally fucked Peter over. He wanted to scream but instead he just laughed. It was one of those laughs that you knew meant a person was hurting. It was the kind of laugh that was always accompanied by tears and this was no exception. Then, as if he had some sort of weird sixth sense, Wade walked in. 

 

“Hey Spidey, you seen the screwdr-. Holy fuck are you alright?” Wade rushed over and crouched in front of him. 

 

Peter didn’t want to see Wade in that moment. He just wanted to be alone, it was already going to be hard to pretend he was okay for his next class, he didn’t want to pretend to be okay for Wade too. 

 

“I’m fine.” Even though it was said around hiccups and tears.

 

“You’re obviously not kiddo.”

 

“Don’t call me that.”

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing.”

 

“Lier.”

 

“Shut up.”

 

Wade sat down across from Peter and crossed his legs. He held open his arms and wiggled his finger to encourage the smaller man to move in for a hug. “Come here.”

Peter huffed but crawled into Wade’s lap, unable to resist the offer, and practically melted. He rested his head against Wade’s broad shoulder and cried even harder as Wade held him close. The Alpha started rocking them back and forth. 

 

“It’s okay. You’re okay, everything will be alright. You’re safe.”

 

The last sentence made Peter cry even harder, falling fully into the territory of sobbing. Wade just responded by holding him tighter and continuing the rocking motion, throwing in some hair petting for good measure. It was intimate and that didn’t go over Peter’s head but instead was emblazoned in bright red letters across his brain. He was close to Wade but they’d never hung out outside of school and yet here they were, wrapped up like two pack bonded best friends. That thought lightened his mood a little bit, it felt good to know he had someone like that in his life even if the closest he’d ever had to a pack have been the Omegas at the heat clinic. It was also the reason he giggled when Wade started rubbing their cheeks together, scenting him. 

 

“Having fun there?” Peter smiled and returned the gesture.  

 

“Just trying to calm you down. It worked, no?”

 

“I haven’t done this since Aunt May was alive.”

 

“Man that woman use to scent you up real well. I thought part of your scent was apple pie for years because of her.”

 

Peter couldn’t help but laugh a bit at that. Wade made it easy to talk about May in moments like this where he wished she was here still here to provide some of her sage May advice. Wade was always there to help him let some of the light of her memories back in. “Was it regular or dutch style?” Peter said jokingly.

 

“Dutch, I craved it a lot cause of that.”

 

Peter rested his ear against Wade’s heart and hummed. “Would have brought you some as an apology if I knew that.”

 

“Nah, Osborn would have thought it was a courting thing and would have tried to hump your leg to reinforce his delusions.”

 

“Honestly? You’re pretty spot on with that assessment.”

 

“It was more like I watched him try it that one time you gave Natasha brownie cookies last year and he attempted to glue himself to your back afterward, and she’s only an Omega.”

 

“God, don’t remind me. He was convinced I was into her and that I was “fucking her behind his back,” Peter made air quotes with one hand, not bothering to lift his head up. “She’s mated for fuck’s sake and he knows I don’t like women, but god forbid he not get my full attention.”

 

Wade snorted and rested his chin on top of Peter’s head. It was a bit of an awkward position for Wade but wasn’t uncomfortable enough for him to move. “I can’t believe you ever fucked that guy.”

 

“He only got laid once and it was so awful I never let him do it again.”

 

“Damn. Gotta keep that in the vault of dirt I have on him for later.”

 

“Be my guest.”

 

This then prompted Wade to sing “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast, after which they lapsed into a comfortable silence. Wade was still rocking them and had fallen into a rhythm despite the fact Peter had stopped crying a little while ago. Still, it took Peter several more minutes to finally say something. 

 

“...Fury came in.”

 

“... Do I nee-”

 

“No, you don’t need to murder him. Jeez, you really need to calm down with that.”

 

Wade just shrugged and slowed down the rocking.

 

“He told me that the district fucked up and I’m not covered for heat suppressants anymore.”

 

Wade stopped rocking altogether and tensed. “Did he fire you because of their fuck up?”

 

“No, thankfully. Fury is trying to work out a plan because he couldn’t fix but I’m going to have to ride out heats for the first time since college.” Peter grunted softly when Wade squished him as he tightened his grip.

 

“Do you need anything? Are you going to be okay?”

 

“I’ll be alright, I’m going to go to the heat clinic for it.”

 

“Didn’t they just bust one of those two towns over for being a human trafficking brothel?”

 

“Jesus, I didn’t hear about that but I know the one here is okay, I’ve gone before. Most of them are safe.”

 

Heat clinics had been around since near the dawn of civilization but they were only officially recognized in the 1200s. Their purpose was to keep unmated Omegas safe from being preyed on during their heat and played on a biological phenomenon to achieve this. Omegas, when put in groups, tend to have a calming effect on the symptoms of heat, especially for younger individuals. Scientists theorize that this was an evolutionary trait that came about during the time of clan mentalities and large family groups in which Omegas were often found in larger numbers together and inbreeding could become a problem for the genetic pool along with the coevolutionary trait of soulmarks attempting to preserve an unmated status until the mark was activated. Peter had actually read in many peer-reviewed studies of isolated civilizations and general populations that those which still religiously followed the practice of raising Omegas together saw much healthier babies and individuals due to a lesser strain on the body. Alphas can also produce a similar hormone that calms heats but it is only possible to trigger when mated. 

 

As society moved away from clans and tribes towards isolated households, heat clinics became a popular solution to dangerous, unstable birth control attempts. This was during a time that virginity till being mated began its history in being a sign of social purity. Things remained this way from roughly the 10th century up until the 17th. Heat clinics in the modern day often get a bad wrap due to old propaganda. Back in the 1600s, they were banned because there was a sudden shift in mentality in which it was seen as a sin to prevent an Omega from getting pregnant. Historians and other experts are a bit confused as to what caused such a sudden social change in only a decade but many point to the sudden and fast spread of the ideology of the Brotherhood, a movement that sought to change the idea of Betas and Omegas being of equal footing to Omegas being the lowest rank of society. While not understood at the time, it is currently known that the movement began only to ensure that Alphas retained control over the entirety of society as the two populations grew to outnumber Alphas. This sudden social change caused many Omega houses to be turned into brothels (back then they were still known as Omega Houses). They were still used for their actual purpose in the background but in order to keep it safe for young Omegas, many older Omegas became prostitutes to keep Alphas from preying on the underaged children and keep officials turning a blind eye. This dynamic sadly furthered the power exchange the Brotherhood had been aiming for. 

 

It took until the early 1900s for heat clinics to turn up, promoting the idea of biological soothing and prevention of heats for those who either couldn’t take modern heat suppressants or for those who wanted an alternative. Sadly this came with all the old prejudice because even though the ban on Omega houses was lifted in most of the world, they were still seen as whore houses. This lead to heat clinics having to begin instating themselves as medical facilities and jumping through an unnecessary amount of hoops in order to be taken seriously by the public. While some stigma still exists, much of it is just whispers and many people choose heat clinics as the first stop for everything related to Omegian health. 

 

Which is what made it sting a bit when Wade’s first thought when talking about the facility was something that, while still happening, was based in old and nasty prejudice. Peter just hoped it was a lack of education on the matter and not bigotry, after all, Wade’s degree wasn’t in biology like Peter’s and he was an Alpha who didn’t have to deal with the same sort of stigma. 

 

“Ah, I see. Can’t help but worry with that sort of thing. It’s really fucked up that anyone would go after a place that’s just trying to make sure Omegas and kids are doing okay. I knew an Omega back in school who use to go cause she was allergic to suppressants and didn’t want Alphas knocking on her door the whole week. Found out one day though that one of the security guards was breaking into the computers and selling information to a trafficking ring who’d been planning a large-scale abduction and it wasn’t even something the heat clinic had discovered. The local police had an undercover operation in the trafficking ring and they found out they’d been doing it to different clinics for years. They had to overhaul almost every clinic’s system in the country ‘cause they were all using a similar database.”

 

“That’s fucking horrible, holy shit.” Although, in all honesty, it relieved Peter that his concern wasn’t based in what he’d previously thought. 

 

“Yeah, she wouldn’t leave her house for weeks after that. She was petrified that someone was going to pick her up off the street because all her information had been sold and she didn’t know if there was anyone left who knew it and would use it.”

 

“God, that is terrifying. Was she ever okay after?”

 

“I don’t know. I moved away before I could find out.”

 

Peter curled up tighter in Wade’s lap. “I don’t know how someone could ever get over that…”

 

Wade cupped Peter’s face and leaned back so that Peter had to look him in the eyes. “Hey, don’t start dwelling on it now. It was twenty-some years ago, either she’s over it or she isn’t and it’s not your job to worry over it.”

 

“Okay, okay. Jeez, I hate that you know me well enough to know that.”

 

“I mean it, Peter. Don’t worry about what you cannot change.” They locked eyes and it seemed as if they were both searching for different things. Peter was about to look away, ready to give up on the staring contest but saw a flash of something he wasn’t expecting. He nearly seized up. No, he wasn’t seeing it right, but there was no way it wasn’t. He tried to wrack his brain for answers but it all just came back to the look and the truth of it. He should have seen this coming yet he was still shell-shocked. 

 

Love. Wade Wilson looked at him with love. 

 

The bell mercifully rang then and they both jumped up. Peter blushed and started nervously pushing his hair back. Fuck, what should he say?

 

“Um, thank you. You didn’t have to do that, I really appreciate it.”

 

Wade snorted and shoved his hands in his pocket, not making eye contact. “I’m not Osborn, I actually have a heart and I’m not about to let you cry on a floor by yourself.” He looked at the door. “You might want to run to the bathroom and wash up before the kids come in. They can be vicious bastards when they see weakness.”

 

Peter chuckled awkwardly, “You’re right on that front.”

 

With a somewhat uncomfortable goodbye, Wade left and Peter went to the teacher’s bathroom down the hall for some privacy. The first thing he did was lock the door and flip the sink on. He resisted the urge to just splash water in his face as it would get everywhere and raise even more questions. Instead, he grabbed a paper towel and got it wet before wiping his face with it. He tossed it in the trash by the door when he was done and turned off the water. Staring himself down in the mirror he tried to figure out what to feel. His body took over on that front and his stomach fluttered when he recalled everything that happened. Just as he felt himself about to come to some sort of conclusion, the bell rang. He groaned and threw open the door, startling a few students who were jogging to class in an attempt to avoid too much of a late penalty. At first, they slowed back down to a walk but when they realize he was out of their hair after only a few doors, they started jogging again. He didn’t bother yelling at them. 

 

“Alright class, settle down.” As he walked through the door he picked up a paper airplane that had already been made, thrown, and forgotten in the few minutes he was gone and tossed it in the recycling bin. “Today we’re gonna talk about soulmarks and the chemistry behind it and run a lab. I need all of you to listen to the safety procedure because this stuff can leave a mark if you aren’t careful.”

 

Surprising the class quieted down, Peter guessed because teenagers were always extra interested in stuff pertaining to relationships and such but who knows. A girl raised her hand. 

 

“Yes, Angie?”

 

“Leave a mark how?”

 

“I’m getting to that.” Peter walked over to his desk and pulled up a powerpoint. With the clicker in hand, he walked back up to the front of the class and flipped to the first slide. “As most of you likely know, soulmarks activate when one comes in contact with their soulmate and mutual love is present. What you may not know is some of the science behind how soulmarks activate.” He flipped the slide to show an unactivated soulmark. 

 

“Soulmarks start out unactivated and are displayed as a black pigment on skin. Science has yet to understand exactly how the body is able to predict the exact area and form of soulmarks but we do know how the science of what creates the colorful pigments that are present.”

 

He flipped to a slide showing the same mark but activated. It was blooming out into purples and blues and was wildly blending and meshing together in random ways, yet it always stayed sharply in it's defined boundary. “Pigments are created when a special hormone is released during the emotional sensation of love. This hormone actually makes its way out of the pores and forms an oily substance, but it only comes out of the soulmarks and no other place on the body. When this substance comes in contact with its exact opposite in makeup, it reacts by forming colorful pigments that then leak into the skin. This is where soulmarks get their “watercolor” effect from.”

 

A beta boy in the back raised his hand. Peter pointed at him. “Yes?”

 

“Why don’t soulmarks end up blotchy and all over the place then?”

 

“Because the only part of the skin able to accept this mixture is the black areas of soulmarks, skin otherwise rejects it.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Peter flips to the next slide of a diagram showing the pigment entering the lower layers of the skin. “Our lab today is going to focus on displaying this process. We will be working with chemicals that are meant to mimic this reaction and put it on paper meant to demonstrate the rejective nature of the solution when not put within it’s defined area. While in real life you aren’t going to be burned by someone else’s pigments, these materials are made up of special dyes that are very alkaline and will burn you if you aren’t careful. Goggles and gloves are a must, if I see anyone without them you will be required to leave the room and will get a zero on the lab.”

 

After going over more safety rules and procedures he let the kids begin. It was always a fun lab for the kids and normally no one got hurt, still, he would hover. The burns weren’t ever that bad because they could easily be stopped by running water over it as soon as one noticed they’d gotten it on them, didn’t stop him from worrying though. 

 

As he walked around the room he started to get lost in his own thoughts. Had he really seen the look Wade had given him right? Wade was certainly much more affectionate with Peter than most but he couldn’t possibly love Peter, could he? He started going through all the times he’d interacted with Wade the last few years that seemed noteworthy and slowly started to blush as it dawned on him.

 

Wade had been in love with him for years. 

 

The most horrifying part though wasn’t that. It was that Peter was realizing he might just love him back. At first, it seemed like it was purely friendly on his end as he weeded through his memories, small jokes, friendly little shooing when he got too raunchy and eye rolls. But as he got closer to the present it became less of that. It began to turn into playful flirting, fleeting touches, and emotional rawness he’d never let anyone see. Then there was today. At first, he tried to tell himself it was just Wade falling into a pack mentality (he could have sworn Wade mention living in a pack in his later elementary and middle school years) but even if that was the case (it definitely wasn’t), Peter had returned it without thinking. It was such a natural response yet it was an intimate gesture that he’d only seen mates do. Had he been projecting Wade as his mate and not realizing it?

 

“Could that be why Harry is such a dick to Wade?” Peter muttered to himself as he adjusted a microscope for a group of students.

 

“What was that Omega Parker?”

 

“Nothing Natalia, just talking to myself. This microscope is a bit wonky so if it rolls back out of focus I’ll rubberband it in place.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Your welcome.”

 

Peter went back to walking around the classroom and thinking. He’d run to Wade when Harry had posed a threat which was weird thinking back. Why hadn’t he run to his own room and just locked the door? As he thought about it, he started to apply his knowledge of biology and human behavior and he started to feel sick. He sat down at his desk and watched the class from there while scribbling down notes on his thoughts on a stray piece of paper on his desk. 

 

Omegas that are threatened tend to seek out their mate to protect them. In the case of unmated Omegas, they tend to seek out a potential mate who can fill that role and protect them. Peter put a check mark next to that point and sighed frustratedly. While he hadn’t intended for it to be like that, the subconscious mind plays a large role in more than he’d like to admit in that moment but should still be considered valid in some capacity. 

 

Omegas who display courting behaviors back towards their selected partner tend to allow said partner into their space much more readily and will test how well the partner responds to being asked to respect that space. Peter checked that one as well. It could be interpreted in multiple ways but he knows he’s tested Wade on this intentionally before, though not consciously in this way. 

 

He continued to list things and check them off. By the end of the list he wanted to smack his face on the desk. How had he been so oblivious? How could he not have noticed it before? How-

 

The door opened and slammed, causing Peter to jump. He looked up to see Wade. He felt himself turn bright red and cursed himself for it. 

 

“Hey, sorry to bother you again but I forgot to get that screwdriver.”

 

“Oh, yeah, I have that in my drawer here actually.” He looked down and fumbled around for a moment before he found it. 

 

“Thanks, Spidey.” He reached for it and it looked like Wade was going to touch his hand in the process. This caused him to recoil just enough that they didn’t touch. Wade didn’t seem to notice though. Just flashed him a wonky smile and left without much else being said. 

 

“Did I seriously just avoid touching him? After everything?” Peter said under his breath. He knew why. He was scared. He was scared Wade was his soulmate but also scared he wasn’t. Even though that almost touch was nowhere near any of Peter’s own soulmarks he still avoided it out of fear. He cursed himself and wished he could just sink into a hole and forget this whole day. Wade was so kind to him and yet here he was acting like his world was ending because that kindness came from a love and that he shared that love. God, he felt like an ass. 

 

A shout sounded from the side of the room and Peter shot over to where it came from. He was about to ask what was wrong only to get something wet splattered on his cheek. A terrified Beta and an Alpha holding an empty test tube stared back at him. Both of them were frozen in place but Peter was locked on to the test tube. 

 

“Did… Was that your sample?” 

 

Both of the boys flinched and Peter felt something wet drip down onto his shirt. He looked down to see an amalgamation of colors swirling in a bead of liquid and began to feel a burning on his cheek. He’d never been happier to be wearing goggles in his entire life.

 

“Principal’s office. Now.” He went to a sink in the corner of the room, pretending he didn’t notice his students staring. He grabbed a mirror out of a drawer on his way in order to assess the damage and tried to remain calm. As he brought the smooth surface to eye level he was shocked by how vivid the color looks on his face. It had splattered all over his soulmark and it took everything in him not to run his fingers over the mess in disbelief. His stomach flipped and an image of Wade passed through his head as he stood there seeing a prophecy of what would come. 

 

Maybe he was less scared than he thought he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to comment and rib me for all the fuck ups I missed lol. I might come back and fix it one day but hey, you guys get a chapter out this either way haha
> 
> World Notes:  
> -It is completely normal for Omegas to mate with Omegas and Betas to mate with Alphas or Omegas it is just a bit less common so Harry is literally gonna be a dick no matter what. 
> 
> Sidenote: Grammarly fuckin hates the way I write dialog


	5. Blood on the Walls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where things are going to start to get dark. I didn't intend for the direction this story is about to go originally but I hope y'all will be okay with where it ends up. I promise everything will be okay. 
> 
> Trigger Warnings: Cannon typical violence, gun violence, somewhat graphic descriptions of wounds, and school shooting. 
> 
> If any of this is not something you wanna read I'll summarize the chapter in the endnotes for those who want to know what happened.

Peter woke up that morning with a sense of foreboding. Something felt deeply wrong. At first, he thought it might just be left over anxiety from getting chemicals thrown in his face and what damage it might have done, but even after confirming his face was indeed fine, the feeling didn’t go away. It felt like a spider was skittering up the back of his neck repeatedly and it made the rest of his skin absolutely crawl. As he drove to work the sensation got worse until he found himself sitting in the parking lot practically shaking with anxiety and he couldn’t pin down why. He debated just calling in sick and going home but he’d told Wade on Monday that they should work on finishing their tests for Friday at lunch that Wednesday. He just couldn’t bring himself to bail on Wade like that. So, he grabbed the textbooks he had sitting in the back seat of his car and trudged through the parking lot and into the school. 

 

As Peter settled into his classroom the anxiety only seemed to get steadily worse. By third period he was sitting on the edge of an anxiety attack and sat in the supply closet that joined his room with Wade’s in order to calm down between passing periods. By lunch he was about ready to call it quits, then Wade sauntered in. 

 

He whistled, “Damn, you okay there, Parks & Recs? You look like shit.” 

 

Peter laughed hoarsely. “It’s been a shitty morning, I’d love to never feel like this again if I can help it.” 

 

“You need anything?” Wade sat on the edge of Peter’s desk and Peter made a conscious effort to not touch the other while keeping his hands busy. 

 

“I’ll be alright. Just anxious.” He scribbled something random that could pass as a reminder on a sticky note in order to look busy.

 

“Can’t fight it then? Real shame there, I was hoping to prove how big my dick is through violent compensation.” 

 

Peter couldn’t help but smile despite his dower mood. “Of course, because as we all know the more aggressive an Alpha is, the bigger his penis.” He mentally checked off another criteria for the more subtle side of courting, setting up situations for the other to appear or feel better. It wasn’t a huge one and on its own would be insignificant but due to everything else, it became just another point in the currently winning count. 

 

“The testosterone has gotta go somewhere.”

 

Peter laughed a little. “Do you ever think about what you’re saying?”

 

“All the time.”

 

“Ever thought about it being weird to say this stuff at work?” He said, mostly teasing. 

 

“Nah, you’re the only one who gets to hear it and the kids say way worse.”

 

“Touché. Ready to work?”

 

“Ugh.”

 

“Good, now sit down in an actual chair.”

 

They spent lunch together bouncing possible questions off of each other. They both had a basic enough understanding of the other’s subject to say whether or not the way a question was worded would make sense, but being able to actually answer that question was a completely different story.

 

“I thought you took a biology and Omega studies course in college?”

 

“I took a biology course that covered Omegan biology to a degree back when I was getting my AA, thank you.”

 

“You should at least know how the male Omegan reproductive system works then! How did you not know about the hormonal regulation process?” 

 

“It’s been almost a decade cut me some slack!”

 

“You should have at least remembered it existed.”

 

“Just write the damn question down before I start quizzing you of different laws of physics.”

 

“Fine.”

 

Any and all bickering was occasional and light but did cause some snippy remarks to be made. It thankfully distracted Peter from his anxiety though, and they did end up finishing their quiz writing by the time fifth period rolled around. This prompted them to move from Peter’s room to Wade’s in order to allow Wade to dick around in a swivel chair while Peter watched from the counter. Things were mostly calm and quiet other than the softly playing music of Queen and the squeaking of Wade spinning the chair. It was calm and it let Peter think, whether that is good or bad is to be decided. 

 

As he watched Wade he thought about the possibility of the man being his mate. The other man was certainly strong as was evident by the toned muscle he sported, which he had to admit, turned him on a little bit and provided a peace of mind as to whether or not he’d have to worry about Harry being able to get at him. That felt to conceited of him to place as a trait that was of any real importance though. He liked to think he was above that sort of thing being something he even considered when looking for a partner but, he had to admit, he was scared shitless of being without some sort of protection in his life. After all his shit experiences in life, it made him feel much safer than he’d like to admit to imagine himself with someone strong like Wade. 

 

On the surface, he did find Wade attractive. He wouldn’t mention it if asked out of fear of seeming as though he was fetishizing Wade’s burns but he really did find them something he loved about Wade. He couldn’t imagine the other man with flawless skin and hair, it just seemed… wrong. He knew from accidental touches and the like that the burned skin was surprisingly soft. Wade moisturized quite often in order to prevent dryness and joint mobility issues common with scarring in high movement areas. Peter pinched himself on the inside of his elbow when the idea of helping Wade with moisturizing sometime popped in. Wade had complained enough about getting the thick, gel-like moisturizer on his back that while it might be helpful it was far too intimate for Peter to be mulling over. 

 

Wade was going on about something to do with a sexist advertising article he’d read and it brought Peter back from his thoughts a bit. He smiled nodded along, Wade’s belief in social rights was also a comfort for Peter and elevated his affection towards the other. It often felt near impossible to find an Alpha who wasn’t already taken that even cared about social issues, let alone had an opinion on them that was positive. Betas were a little easier in that department but Peter had little experience in dating them. As Wade prattled on Peter found himself relaxing to his voice. He wondered if Wade sang if so it would likely be nice. He imagined it would be soothing and-

 

“It’s like if an angel took a massive shit on your tongue, it was good but it will probably give me some horrible illness that kills me via shitting.”

 

Peter laughed, what the fuck had he just missed? 

 

“Hey! My potential shit induced death is not funny!”

 

“I zoned out for two seconds and came back to this, it kinda is from my perspective.”

 

“You’ve wounded me deeply. I must now look elsewhere for my affections to be lane for you are unworthy of this fine man you so rudely disrespect.”

 

It shouldn’t have made Peter’s heart squeeze painfully to hear that but it did. “Would you really leave me alone?”

 

Wade must have sensed the emotions behind those words because he stopped dicking off to stare Peter down. He didn’t say anything for a few seconds, keeping Peter trapped in his gaze. Neither of them moved a muscle in that short but seemingly infinite window of time. 

 

“Peter, I wouldn’t leave you even if I was held at gunpoint, being skinned alive and it was the only way to save my ass.”

 

And Peter knew it was true, he honestly wanted to cry after hearing it. He opened his mouth to respond when the intercom crackled to life. Fury’s voice crawled over the near ancient system and the pair froze as his words carried across the school. It didn’t have to be loud for it to feel as if they’d been dunked in cold water. 

 

“Lockdown, Lockdown. This is not a drill. I repeat this is not a drill. Lockdown.”

 

Wade slapped the pause button on the music as he scrambled from his chair and lunged towards the door, “Shit, shit, shit.” He usually kept it locked to keep students out when he wasn’t there but he checked anyway as Peter started to make his way back towards his room. 

 

“I have to lock my door.”

 

“Fuck no. We’ll just lock the closet. Your classroom is empty and they won’t want anything in there. I’m not letting you go into a potentially lethal hallway with some fucking crazy people just to lock a stupid door.” Wade gently grabbed Peter’s wrist and locked the connecting closet door. All the doors in the science and math hallways locked from the outside due to their push to open set up. If there had been kids in Peter’s classroom he wouldn’t have stopped him but he wasn’t about to let Peter put himself in a potentially risky situation for no good reason. 

 

The anxiety from early came back with a vengeance at that moment and Peter started to hyperventilate as Wade lead him behind his desk in order to hide. Wade helped Peter sit in the space between the filing cabinet and the wall before using his own body to block Peter in, using himself as a barrier. He gently took Peter’s hand and applied a light but firm pressure on other’s wrist with his thumb in order to provide some grounding.

 

“It’s gonna be okay, just breathe. Deep breaths, come on baby, you got this.” Wade whispered as he swirled circles into Peter’s wrist with the pad of his thumb. 

 

Peter took large, gasping breaths. Just as he started to come down from the attack a gunshot echoed down the hallway and he felt his stomach turn violently in response. 

 

“Oh god, Wade-“

 

“Focus on me, I won’t let anything happen to you but you gotta stay collected for me.” 

 

“Okay, okay-“

 

Peter clamped his mouth shut as Wade cupped his cheek. He tried not to soften into mush but his only other response was to go rigid and he didn’t want Wade to recoil so he leaned into it. Wade smiled and was about to say something when the door shook violently, causing them both to stiffen. It passed swiftly and Wade removed his hand. Peter caught a glimpse of something red on Wade’s palm but didn’t have time to ask about it before he’s pressed further into the wall by Wade’s weight.

 

“If anything happens and you’re spotted, run to the facility bathroom and lock yourself in there. I’ll buy you some time.”

 

“I’m not just going to abandon you! They have a gun! You’ll fucking die!” Peter kept his voice low but his tone was on the aggressive side. 

 

“I don’t care, just get your ass to safety before worrying about mine. I’ll be fine.” Wade snapped back, not willing to compromise on this issue. 

 

“Don’t try and lie to me! There is no way you can-“ 

 

The closet door handle jingles before the whole thing shakes violently like the main door, only this time it starts to crack. The wood was generally pretty sturdy but the hinges were loose in the walls and were giving easily. Wade moves silently across the room in a flash and pulls a butterfly knife out of his pocket as he hides near, but out of sight of the closet door. Peter tries not to think about why he would have a knife on him at school but feels slightly better that Wade isn’t defenseless as he himself crouches to the floor in an attempt to appear better hidden. 

 

With a sickening snap and a violent slam, the door flies open, bouncing off the corner of a nearby table and adding to the noise echoing through the room. Peter catches a glimpse of a tall man with long black hair before ducking down as the man advances into the room, not yet noticing Peter. Peeking under the back panel of the desk currently helping to obscure him he sees Wade’s shoes as he slips silently behind the man. Something in the back of his head tells him that Wade has done this before as he watches both sets of shoes grow closer and only hears one. Peter shifts ever so slightly and in the process, a staple from a stack of papers piled high out of a box next to him gets caught on his sweater and the pile of unorganized papers slides across the floor in a near deafening way. The first set of shoes swivels and takes a potshot at the desk before Wade takes a swing at him. At least that is what Peter thinks is happening, still too terrified to do anything but watch the feet dance until he hears Wade shout over the grunting and noises of struggle that generally come with a fight. 

 

“PETER, RUN.”

 

Slipping a bit on the mess of papers, Peter shoots for the door and makes it but just as he hits the bar to release the latch an ear-splitting pop goes off three times and Peter hears more than feels the muffled thud of bullets lodging into flesh. He goes down like a sack of bricks, sliding down the door while desperately attempting to cling to it in an attempt to stay vertical. The pain still hadn’t quite hit due to the thrum of adrenaline but something was horribly wrong with his hip, knee, and thigh. Looking down he felt the blood drain from his face. There were three clear holes that went down in a line through his jeans and they were all starting to bleed. There was no way his knee had survived such a direct hit into its side, but if it had it must have been the two other holes that took him out. He half fainted, half fell onto his side as he was overwhelmed by what he saw and the sudden sense of nausea. The pain started to sink in and he screamed in pain as it snaked its way across his nerves. He clawed at the base of the door trying to somehow work the pain out of his system. It was agonizing and when the bang of the gun went off again Peter was petrified he’d been killed in that moment despite not feeling anything. When Wade suddenly dropped down next to him and carefully log rolled him onto his back he was lost in a world of confusion as to what happened until he turned his head and saw a crumpled body on the floor with a crater through one eye. 

 

He shuddered. “I’m gonna be sick.”

 

“Shit, let me roll you back over or you’ll choke.”

 

Peter protested a bit as Wade rolled him onto his side but when he didn’t eject anything in the form of vomit he slowly rested him on his back again. He was starting to get dizzy and fear set in as Wade cursed wildly as he went about trying to stop the blood gushing from the smaller man’s wounds. 

 

“Come on Petey, stay with me. I can hear the sirens you just gotta hold on.” Wade was quivering but not enough for Peter to notice as he fell in and out of awareness as the pain thrummed through him. Wade cupped Peter’s face as he applied pressure to the bullet wound on Peter’s thigh with his other hand. He’d cut off the pant leg in order to better attempt to keep the area under control and mop up blood with the excess cloth. He’d already made a makeshift tourniquet out of the extra cloth and a pen and hoped Peter would forgive him for it as his leg likely wouldn’t survive it. 

 

Tears trickling down onto his face brought Peter back into the moment along with the skin to skin contact. The only emotion he could process in that moment was fear. He slipped his hand over Wade’s heart and tried to stay grounded in that moment, terrified of slipping away. 

 

“I’m so sorry, I should have been faster. I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry.” Peter slurred as he started to sob. 

 

“It’s not your fault, you did everything you could. I’m sorry  _ I _ wasn’t faster. Just hold on it’s gonna be okay.”

 

“I’m scared, Wade. I’m so fucking scared. I love you, I should have said something sooner. I should have, I should have,” He babbled as he started to lose touch a bit. 

 

Wade choked on his own tears, “I love you too, so much. More than you’ll ever know. Just stay with me. Everything will be okay if you just stay with me.”

 

They kept talking to each other and it was the only lifeline keeping the two together. Terrified the other would slip away they didn’t move, to wrapped up in their grief to realize the tingling on Peter’s face and thigh (and Wade’s hands and the skin over his heart) was the changing of their soulmarks. It was probably for the best, the idea of losing one’s soulmate on top of the man they love would likely cause a much worse spiral than the one currently taking place. 

 

It took a few minutes before Wade heard footsteps in the hallways and shouting Wade cracked the door open the best he could without jostling Peter too much and yelled into the hallway for help. It was all a blur after that for both of them as the police and paramedics rushed in and out. Wade tried not to take off the hands of any paramedics as they worked on Peter and rushed him out of the room. He vaguely remembers one of them telling him he may have saved Peter’s life but all Wade could focus on was the possibility they left that he might not make it. That ‘may’ was haunting him as the police moved him from the room and attempted to question him. He just pulled from a list of cover-up stories he had from his past and said it had gone off on accident when Wade was wrestling the man and not that he’d ripped it from the other’s hands and killed him in one swift pull of the trigger. His mind was running into a chaos loop. He felt his past creeping up on him and all he could do was wait for the shadows to come but he did his best to hold on. He couldn’t sink back into his old life until he knew if Peter was okay. He couldn’t just leave Peter because the tide threatened to become a tsunami. He may not remember much of what followed in those next few hours but he does know that when he finda himself in Peter’s hospital room hours later with a doctor’s reassurance that Peter was going to live and the sight of new red splotches on the other’s soulmark and his own blue and red hands that he was exactly where he was supposed to be. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sidenote: For those who don't live in America or haven't ever experienced a lockdown it is when a threat such as a shooter enters a building like a school and you essentially just barricade yourself in a room in the hopes no one gets in. As someone who has been through quite a through drills and fake out lockdowns, it is very unpleasant and terrifying. My sister was actually in a real lock down a few months back and it is not something I would say is a rare issue here in the US.
> 
> Summary: Peter has anxiety over going to school and it remains until he sees Wade. They dick around in Wade's classroom but get caught in a lockdown. Peter ends up getting shot in the leg and Wade attempts to keep him alive. Their soulmarks are activated during this time but they don't realize until later. A mini episode on Wade's part that is kept brief and intentionally chaotic in order to establish his emotions at that time. Peter makes it to the hospital and is stabilized, queue end of chapter. 
> 
> I hope you guys don't hate me after this. I know you guys thought you were gonna get a sweet chapter where they realize they're soulmates but this was kinda always gonna happen to some degree, although not originally as violent but it is important to the plot that Peter is injured here. Expect some new tags and a reveal (probably) next chapter. See y'all soon! Sorry again


	6. Waiting Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is shorter than normal and I'm really sorry for the wait. School has already started gearing up to plow on through the year and I have barely caught a break between it and some personal social issues and fights. Throw on top of all of it that my therapist resigned and I am going to a new one Thursday and you could say the last few weeks have been pretty rough for me. I just wanted to put something out to at least let you guys know I'm not dead or abandoning the story, just delayed. 
> 
> Sorry again!

Peter’s return to reality was slow. Coming back mentally was like trudging through tar and his stomach rolled each time he attempted to mentally pull himself out of it. He’d almost certain he’s vomited at least once because of it, having vaguely registered touches to his back and the puke being whisked away when it had taken place. The quiet hum of machines was the first thing he heard upon coming too. The melody of a heart monitor was enough to scare him, causing its beeping to speed up. It was then he realized where he was and tried to claw his way to the surface. It felt slow and grueling at first then it was as if he’d been thrown from a slingshot and he was suddenly awake, gasping. 

Wade jumped when Peter’s dramatic return happened but he smiled and squeezed the other’s hand nonetheless. 

“Welcome back. Have a fun time there dancing with the dead?” He said it softly like he was afraid too much noise might cause the ceiling to cave in. 

Peter blinked weirly, “Am I… in the hospital? Why am I here?”

Wade swallowed a lump the size of a fist before answering. “You don’t remember what happened? Nevermind, dumb question. You wouldn’t ask if you did.”

“Wade, what the hell happened?”

“You…” He hesitated for a moment, ”You were shot. Your knee got fucked up real bad and your femoral artery got clipped. They had… they amputated your left leg. I’m so sorry, baby boy. I should ha-”

Wade was cut off as Peter violently threw back the blankets covering his lap. He didn’t believe Wade would lie but he could have sworn he could still feel his left leg. At least he did up until he was confronted with nothing but a stump where his thigh and everything below it should have been. He sat there silently as Wade watched, frozen in place. It all came back, overloading his brain. All he could hear in his head was the pop of a gun and the thud. All he could see was the door as he slid down it.

He started to hyperventilate as panic washed over him. Wade, not quite knowing what to do gently hugged him from the front, kissing his cheeks as he slipped their hands together. 

“It’s okay. Its over, its over. You’re safe now.” 

“My leg is gone, my leg is fucking gone. Wade, how am I going to work? How am I going to pay for my surgery? Physical therapy, if it’s even an option? Even if I make a full recovery I’m going to be up to my ears in debt and-” Peter paused when he noticed Wade’s hands in his own, having sworn he caught a glimpse of color. He flipped them over to look at Wade’s palms and didn’t say anything as he stares at the splotched of red and blue all over them. It felt like centuries have passed by the time he finally finds his voice again. “Are these..?” He was scared to ask, scared of how long he’d been out and that he might be getting hopes up. He held his breath as he waited for an answer. 

“They’re yours, baby boy.”

Peter touched his cheek. “Can- can you get me a mirror? Or take me to one?”

“Uh, one sec.” Wade pulls out his phone. Peter ignored the flashy Hello Kitty case in favor of the screen as the front-facing camera is turned towards him. 

All of the air left in him leaves as he carefully takes the phone. A thousand different emotions and feelings course through him at once but one of them stand out above the rest. Joy. Even the black peeking between all the red didn’t squash it as he looked over the handprint that had haunted his life. He almost wanted to laugh. Of course, Wade would leave such an obvious mark in the most dramatic of place. How he’d doubted their potential as soulmates was starting to seem silly the longer he looked at it. Though, that could be the drugs talking. 

Wade shifts a bit uncomfortably. “I’m sorry it’s not complete. I asked the Doc about it and he said the burns fucked up my hands real bad and that I was lucky anything happened at all.”

Peter set the phone back in Wade’s hand and smiled. “I’m not worried about that Wade. I’m just happy it was you.” 

Wade gawked for a minute before wrapping the Omega up in his arms. Peter held him in return and they stayed there for a long time. Peter did his best not to let his mind wander. He didn’t want to think of his now only three-limbed form, mostly because it was hard to believe it was true. The idea of something so commonplace and reliable suddenly gone was like a punch to the gut. It was easier to just revel in the fact that he finally found his soulmate. 

Then again, that started to come with its own stress as it dawned on him that that meant he’d likely be mated within the next year. That sort of life change felt almost as overwhelming as the fact his leg was gone. At the same time, it meant he could keep his job, well, if he could even physically, let alone emotionally, handle going back. The thought of putting himself back in a situation where something like this could happen again (no matter how unlikely) was petrifying and not yet something he was ready to think about in depth. 

Wade rubbing their cheeks together interrupted his thoughts and Peter laughed tiredly as he was pushed back into the hospital bed as Wade pressed their cheeks together harder. Peter could practically feel him resisting the urge to clamber onto the bed and cover him in his scent. It made Peter’s heart wilt a little as he realized what Wade must have felt. If his leg was as fucked up as Wade had conveyed, Wade must have watched him slowly dying. Peter cupped Wade’s face between his hands and kissed his nose before pressing their foreheads together.   
“I’m sorry for everything you’ve had to see today.”

“Don’t apologize for someone else’s actions, Peter. Not to mention that shit was yesterday and I’ve had plenty of time to curse that bastard’s name to the point that your sympathy makes me feel bad for doing it.”

Peter chuckled. “Noted. Has it really been a whole day?”

“They knocked your ass out, babe.”

“I guess blood loss and drugs will do to you.”

“Maybe.” 

They giggled between themselves (it was mostly Peter due to the drugs) and held each other the best they could while whispering sweet nothings to each other. Wade was softly swaying back and forth as he kept their foreheads pressed together. The gentle and slow movements along with Wade’s calming presence slowly lulled Peter back to sleep.   
____

In what only felt like minutes later, but what must have been hours based on the lighting, Peter was woken up by yelling outside the door. He looked around to see Wade was gone from the room and was about to go see what was happening when the door flew open. A very pissed off looking Harry entered the room and Peter shrank back, scared the anger was directed at him. 

Harry pulled up short of the bed and stared at Peter for a solid five seconds before whipping around and yelling at the fuming Wade who had followed behind him. 

“What fucking bullshit party trick have you pulled here, Wilson?”

Wade’s annoyance formed into a smirk. “Ain’t no party trick and you know it, Osborn. Can’t fake that shit, not in here.”

Harry scowled, “Like you couldn’t slip paint in here or some bullshit skin stainers.”

Peter tried to come to Wade’s defense but even thinking felt like moving through molasses. He tried to roll over at the very least to let them know he was aware of what was going on in the hopes it would stop but he couldn’t find the energy. 

“While I’d love to kick your ass for suggesting I’d do something that fucked up I’d rather not have Peter chew me out when he comes down from the morphine.”

Damn, morphine? But I don’t feel that messed up… Peter thought. But then again, it was more emotions than coherent words that made up that thought. Still, he tried to sit up in the hopes he could at least get the two men to calm down enough to walk away before the fight that was obviously brewing below their skin broke out. It was futile. 

Peter didn’t quite catch what Harry said but he saw the flash of teeth and the flicker of triumph in his eyes in the split second anger slipped into Wade’s scent. It didn’t last long though as Wade shoved him. Harry responded by pushing back after recovering from the two backward stumbling steps he’d been forced into. They gnashed their teeth at each other as they postured, trying to get the other to back down. When that didn’t work Harry spoke, “Why don’t we take this outside Wilson.”

Wade rolled up his sleeves, which would have caused Peter to roll his eyes if he wasn’t scared of the Alpha fight about to break out. He was finally able to mumble a bit but the two Alphas ignored him. “Why I’d be glad to.”

They disappeared out the door, taking the scent of angry Alpha with them. Peter didn’t realize how tense he’d been until he felt his muscles relax. It didn’t subtract from his mental fear though as he waited for one of them to come back beat to shit to proclaim himself Peter’s Alpha before getting arrested for disturbing the peace. 

And all he could do was wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea when I'll have time to write again with debate season looming over me but I hope this will be at least enough to tide you over since I left off on a cliffhanger last time. 
> 
> Hopefully I'll see yall again soon!


	7. Like Ancient Aliens, but, you know, with Werewolves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thank you to everyone who has waited so long for me to update and thank you for over 70 comments, almost 5000 hits, and nearly 300 kudos. It means more to me than y'all will ever know. 
> 
> Second, I'm so sorry for taking so long on this chapter. A lot of shit hit the fan including the fact that I took in a friend only to find out she'd been lying about her home situation, faking seizures, and perpetuating drama because I wasn't doing what she wanted. She got kicked out last week after nearly two months of living here and I finally got my spark back to write. This chapter is not my best, partially because I tried to write it while she was still here and the other because I am struggling with some plot stuff. More on that in the endnotes. I hope this chapter isn't too boring. Depending on where the plot goes it is really important but it is mainly world building stuff. If you aren't into that at least hop to the end notes before you go!
> 
> For those continuing, enjoy!

Wade didn’t come back. Not that day at least. 

When Peter woke up and was finally able to stay that way a nurse handed him a book Bruce and Natasha had sent with a get well note. He was grateful but ignored it for a bit as he waited for Wade to come back. He didn’t turn his attention back to the book until visiting hours were over and no Wade appeared. He was worried, no doubt, but he was far too exhausted for the anxiety he knew should be there. Instead of harping on it though, he flipped over the novel and was surprised when he read what it was about. It was a non-fiction science/history novel on the theory and evidence that society’s current hierarchy came from distant ancestors not far off from the legend werewolves and how they eventually died out. Peter couldn’t help but find it a strange choice, as interesting as the topic was. He flipped open the stocky little book to a random page and stumbled across a picture of a large, imposing werewolf-like creature. He wished the book had come with a content warning as he was met with a whole eye full of monster dick. Flustered, Peter slammed the book shut. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen a penis before but he was absolutely not ready for that of all things. 

Once the embarrassment had worn off he decided to give the book another shot. Flipping to a different page, Peter read into the seemingly odd theory. 

Chapter 10: The End of the Lycan 

Lycan were hardy, sturdy beings, so when the virus hit it was astounding. Rather than simply making the Lycan sick, it stalled birth rates. The virus attacked Lycan females fertility and eventually killed them through a horrendous condition of uterine rot. It would eventually get so bad that it would kill those who had it through toxic shock and illness of the blood. As females population dropped and there were no pups being born to replace them a strange interbreeding occurred between pre-humans and the Lycan. Initially, children borne of these unions were sterile and similar to our species what a mule is to horses. But, as time went on sterility was strangely bred out. These “mutts” then would have continued to breed down to what humans have become today as there was more opportunity to mix with pre-humans than Lycan causing, a pre-human dominant species that became us. Further research is needed to explain this but it would have taken a few thousand years, suggesting the virus was not as fast spreading in all areas as originally thought. Previous evidence found in China had suggested that the plague was brutal and quickly tore through Asia and its Lycan population. New evidence in South America, Africa, and Southern Europe now suggests that the plague was much, much slower and a very rare disease.  
Theories as to why this happened are still being developed. What this does tell us is why South Asia has such a tiny population of Alphas and Omegas. Since pre-humans were akin to Betas due to their lack of ability to scent and posture. ---

Peter stopped in his reading for a moment, a bit lost as to how the book ended up where it had and knew he had obviously missed a large chunk of vital information due to where he started. Despite this though he flipped to another chapter later in the book.

…. Some biologists have theorized that Lycan still exist in isolated pockets of Northern Europe where the virus was unable to survive due to the cold. Others suggest that the crosses between pre-humans and Lycans became so varied that rather than just branching off into humans there were two branches, one being pre-humans and another being a species extremely close to Lycan that specializes in camouflage, specifically as humans with inherited lycanthropy ---

Peter groaned and set the book on the bedside table. He really wasn’t in the mood for wild theories. Lycanthropy was a fascinating topic, yes, but it often got out of hand quickly. He’d heard of Lycan in the past during college but from what he understood they were predators that sought to eat humans rather than mate with them. That information very well could have changed as more evidence came out and the book looked new so that was very possible but it was starting to sound like something Wade would prattle off about during lunch. 

He felt a pang in his heart when the thought of Wade came up. He didn’t know where his phone was so he couldn’t contact him and he by no means had his number memorized. He couldn’t even get out of bed to go look for him. Had he gotten arrested? Alpha fights weren’t exactly illegal (as long as an omega or an offense towards a mate or child were involved and the fight deemed fair) but if they took place in the hospital parking lot they would have gotten arrested for disturbing the function of the medical facility and potential endangerment of children and Omegas. The first one would get both of them a night in jail. The last one could get them a few months. It made Peter’s stomach roll a bit to think about. He just found (realized) his soulmate and whether or not he would have admitted it before, they were already so close to being mates it would be unbearable to spend months apart when they were still so new. He needed to figure out what happened but the nurse shift changed a few hours ago so any news of two alphas duking it out in the parking lot likely wouldn’t make the rounds until morning as the day nursing staff would be more concerned with going home than relaying any gossip that came passing through in their already hectic day. 

So now he was stuck. Peter couldn’t find it in himself to even attempt to go back to bed but there was nothing but his thoughts to keep him entertained otherwise and the anxiety of it all might just kill him at this point. He glances back down at his lap. The strange book stares innocently back at him. He responds with a sigh. 

“Guess it’s just you and me. Let’s see what wack shit you’ve gotten up too.” 

He spends the next two hours before lights out reading and he had to admit, it was interesting. After reading the authors note, written by a man well known for investigation into Omegian behavioral science, and his concern for the current societal structures affect on Omegas. It had something to do with multiple unrelated patients expressing a want for what could only be defined as a pack. Whether it was to deal with the loss of a mate or family member or just a need for emotional fulfillment, it came up a surprising amount. It also revealed what wasn’t mentioned on the back, that this book was part of a set of two. The first book, which is the one Peter is currently reading, is all the evidence and theorizing that is meant to preface the second book which talks on why Omegas need pack dynamics and the need for society to shift back towards it. 

What really struck Peter though was a how much he identified with the testimonies of the Omegas. It was why he became a school teacher. He sought that fulfillment. A school is just a really fucked up, extremely large pack. He wondered if Alphas and Betas felt that same pull. It wasn’t really covered in the author’s note despite being a chapter more than a note. What he wondered most though was if Wade felt that pull and if he himself would ever be able to work in that field again. Just the idea made his heartbreak. It was terrifying, yes. The idea of going back to the school where so much had happened and so much had been lost and yet he craved it. He craved that dynamic and he wouldn’t know where to look if he couldn’t go back. He would certainly survive but it would be unbearable. It didn’t matter if he and Harry didn’t get along or that it was a grueling place to work at times. The kids were like his own and the staff was family, he would fight tooth and nail to stay with them. 

A nurse came in to check on him one last time before turning out the lights. He was a bit intimidating but only in stature. Peter debated briefly internally if he should ask about Wade but the need to won out over his previous logic of it being unlikely for the nurse to know. It wouldn’t hurt to know. 

“Um,” Peter cleared his throat as the sound came out choked. “Do you know if an alpha fight happened today?”

The nurse gave him a strange look and Peter rushed to clarify. 

“You see, my mate and coworker-” Possibly ex-coworker now. It made Peter’s throat close back up but the nurse was already speaking. 

“There was one in the parking lot. I was coming in when it broke out. The cops swung by and took them down to the station for the night from what I gathered. They hadn’t thrown any punches yet, just growling and spitting so I don’t think they’ll get off too bad.”

Hearing that was both a relief and more distressing in its own way. It was most likely Wade and Harry who had been the two alphas but the stress came from the possibility that it wasn’t and the other more likely truth that now his mate and ex were spending the night in jail together. Logically he knew they wouldn’t put them in the same cell if they had been fighting but the idea of them attempting to murder one another in a cell still made him nervous. 

He was snapped out of his thoughts when the nurse placed a gentle hand on his shoulder after changing his IV bag. 

“I know alphas are a challenge but try not to stress. You’ll only make yourself sicker. They likely only fought because of the stress of seeing you hurt and they’ll calm down by morning. Hopefully with an apology and some dessert.” The nurse winked and it lightened Peter’s mood exponentially. “Now get some sleep, I’ll be back to check on you in four hours and you’re gonna want as much sleep as you can get.” He says as he walks towards the door and turns off the light. Leaving Peter alone with his thoughts and darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as tends to happen with most of my stories, I come up with a plot but as I write I realize that I either can't do something I originally intended too or that I didn't properly plan for an ending. For the first time though I can actually ask my readers where they like to see this story go as I do have a few ideas but a few I don't know if they would be too jarring a way for the story to go. 
> 
> I set a google form here: [CLOSED] that y'all can vote on! This way I can get a better and easily accessible read on what you wanna see. This does contain potential spoilers though so if you don't wanna see that then don't click on it. There is also room for suggestions both in the form or you can comment those ones instead down below if you'd like! I know this is a pretty unconventional method of doing this sort of thing but I'm hoping it will help in getting my flow fully back on track so I can write more. 
> 
> Anyway! Don't forget to comment. I'll try to respond more to this chapter's comments then the last now that I have time.


	8. The Cycle Completes Itself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Often bad things happen and we are beyond controlling them. This year has been a challenging one for me and it has taught me that there are a lot of things that can change more suddenly than one could ever explain. I use to think that the speed of which some things were displayed in media was an over exaggeration for the benefit of viewership. I recently found this to be wrong, I have merely been trained by the works I have consumed to view it in it’s slowed down form, the form in which it emotionally occurs. This last month two boys in my school took their own lives and it has taught me a lot about the way mortality works and the ease of which some will leave behind all they known simply because life has played out in a fashion with which made living more of a struggle than it had any right to be. As someone who has struggled with mental illness most of my life this was a devastating blow. What it has done for me though is taught me something I knew deep down but never really admitted, I don’t want to leave loose ends. While I have no intention of passing away anytime soon, accidents happen. Mortality is something the death of these two men has forced me to confront. I don’t want to leave things unfinished and weirdly it motivated me to finally finish this story. It may not be beautiful or flooring or revolutionary but this was written for myself. I have never really finished a story, not without the pressure of a due date. I want this to be something I finally finish, even if only for myself. I know this is a depressing way to begin what is meant to be a happy ending but I hope by understanding this it will help in the way this ending is viewed as what it is meant to be: a conclusion, the representation of the mortality of a story. I could continue this story and possibly keep it going for a long time after this but I believe knowing when to lay things to rest is the mark of respect to a work and it’s life cycle. 
> 
> With all my preaching done, I do hope you enjoy this ending. I hope it is enjoyable to at least some degree.

There are things in life that simply come from nowhere and seem to blink out before they are truly able to be caught. For a long time, Wade thought that would be Peter. After he had finally returned to the hospital it was the start of a long journey. Recovery was hard. It was a burden on them both but Wade would never admit it, this was not about him but his mate. His mate, who he had waited for what felt like centuries, was a man that had more strength and grace than anyone who possibly could have in a wake of such a tragedy. His mate, who couldn’t make it up the stairs anymore to his apartment and moved into Wade’s one level home for support yet still was still the first to make it to the door every time there was a guest. His mate, who despite being consumed by the tasks of daily functioning without a limb he had had all his life, acted like the biggest and most important change in his life was his mating. 

Those early days were a struggle. Peter often refused to acknowledge his own pain and became frustrated by his limitations. They fought, often. For those first six months, it didn’t look like they would make it, but they were both too stubborn for their own good. It took Wade almost getting hit by a car after storming out of a store mid-argument for them to realize that which they had started with. Their own mortality had slapped them across the face and fighting became such a low priority it barely ever happened at all. They were stupid together again, they had weird lunch conversations where Wade would say something stupid and Peter would laugh so hard he cried. They had found their love for each other again and they refused to let it go this time.

 

When Peter got a letter in the mail saying he would have to be let go due to his inability to come to work due to recovery taking longer than expected it felt like the whole world fell apart. There was a level of sadness Wade did not think could be rivaled by any mortal force on this earth that Peter kept bottled up and tucked under their mattress. Sometimes, deep in the night, Wade could hear him pull it back to the surface and heard the pitter of tears that dripped from that bottle. Some nights Wade dealt with his own version of this in the corner of the kitchen with a glass of something warm and easy to get down. 

It is hard to continue living life once you know how unfair it can all be. How not even your own action will take away every but at the same time isn’t that what makes life interesting? The unfairness of it all? 

Nothing made Wade feel worse than continuing to work at the school while Peter had to stay home. It was worsened though as Peter’s student’s sought him out. They asked him how Omega Parker was and brought gifts for Wade to give him. Peter cried every time he got something from his old students. He would write them letters thanking them and telling them he was doing well. Some nights those notes were a lie and others they were the most truthful they’d felt in a long time. Healing is not easy, but the support he had made it easier. 

Harry still tried to get information on Peter. After being unable to figure out where he was after release he hounded Wade for information. The two butt heads regularly due to this, it got so bad at one point Principal Fury would go and sit in one of their rooms to make sure neither of them interacted. Harry never could get information about Peter out of Wade and when Wade eventually left the school Harry was never heard by either of them again. 

It took two years but Peter was finally able to return to the school setting as a teacher. Wade picked up and moved jobs to a new school in order to keep him company. Neither would admit that it was also in part because Wade was scared of what might happen without him there, that Peter was terrified of every little thud and slam the doors in the school would make. Two years was a lot of time to dwell on things and let them fester. It didn’t help that the recovery had become such a focus that everything fell to the wayside and felt like the center of their collective universe. They had forgotten what is was like to truly live and not just exist. It was an adjustment they were happy to make even if it took time to reach the place they needed to be. 

As they finally began to get a grip on this new reality, one that didn’t involve the same sleepless nights and fighting constantly just to make it a few more steps than yesterday, it was utterly alien. It also was a reality in which they realized they had never fully gotten married. They were mated, sure, it was hard not to be when living under the same roof as the other half of your entire being. When this realization finally came around, so did a date. It was done on a quiet morning in May, one of the warmer days. It was a tiny ceremony, maybe a handful of friends but it was what they needed, something quiet, something to reflect the lives they now wanted to live after everything. It was time for peace and they would be damned if they didn’t get it. Peter wore so many flowers in his hair and radiated so much joy that day Wade thought he may have accidentally married the God of Spring. It was a beautiful day for them both, the number of flowers Peter had asked be included were a bit unholy but it fit and their house was covered in vase upon vase of flowers for weeks. It was the start of a better era for the two of them and they both could feel it the second it happened. 

Three years into their mating the topic of children came up. For two people who worked with children, this seemed like a given but… it didn’t quite feel right for them. Having worked with children every day they didn’t feel the need to have any of their own. They saw enough positive (and negative) growth from their students over the four years they spent with them to feel satisfied in their role in raising children. Peter often received criticism for this over the years but he was content in his choice to focus more on his career and his partner. Were their times they wanted children? Sometimes, but they never regretted their decision.

Two years after they decided not to have their own children Peter and Wade ended up with a student living under their roof. Jenna, a junior for the school they worked at, had been kicked out because her stepfather forced her mother to chose him or Jenna, she obviously didn’t choose her child. Jenna was wonderful and held her own in the house. Peter absolutely adored her and while Wade wouldn’t always admit it outwardly it was clear he did as well. She loved both of them and when she graduated the following year there were more tears then any of them expected. After Jenna went away to college the pair decided to foster teenagers and they did for years after that. Jenna and the other fosters would come back regularly to see them and while they may never have had their own children they gained dozens in the years they fostered. Peter and Wade not only loved their children with all their hearts but were well loved in return. 

Life is not always fair but it is humbling. Through all the ups and downs you often end up where you need to be. It may hurt, it may hurt like an absolute bitch to get to a good place but it will always be within reach. May the journey only end when it has reached its peak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading. I'm sorry this wasn't super detailed or wrapped up the way you were hoping for. I tried to cover everything and tie up all the ends. I hope you enjoyed this story. While I did mainly end it because I felt it was time for it to end, a lot of people wanted the story to wrap up rather than continue. Maybe one day I will come back and write one of the ideas I had in the survey but I don't think the story should become something it isn't. I debated deleting the chapter before this but I decided to leave it because I felt it is unfair to remove something I have already put out there. I don't know if I will be writing for this fandom again anytime soon but I have been thinking about writing some one shots for Critical Role so if you're into that I may have some things coming up for that in the future. Thank you again, for everyone who has stuck with this for the (almost) year this story has been going for. I started it for fun and really didn't think anyone would read it. There are a lot of things I wish I had done better but I appriciate all the time, comments, and kudos you have given me. I hope you've enjoyed it.


End file.
